First Impressions (can be misleading)
by Lisa Telramor
Summary: Fuu recently started attending Cephiro University and everything seems to be going fine...except that she keeps running into a boy who gets under her skin in irritating ways. Meanwhile, Umi's life can't seem to calm down and Hikaru meets the most interesting people. Coffeeshop and University AU, Fuu/Ferio, Umi/Tarta, Lantis/Hikaru/Eagle Multiple POV and snippet format
1. Chapter 1

_AN:_ So back in April I got the urge to write a Rayearth fic. And I did. And this is the strange mixed up result. Part University AU, part Coffee shop AU, all randomness. I've been trying to write Rayearth fic for years so I am kind of glad to actually write something for it. It's an anime that means a lot to me since it was the first manga and anime I owned. This fic is complete, which is why it's taken until now to post anything. There will be 9 chapters and an epilogue + extra scenes. Thanks for reading!

 **CHAPTER 1:** ** _IN WHICH..._**

 **Umi wants cake**

College life at Cephiro University was going wonderfully for Fuu. She hadn't known what to expect really. It hadn't been the university she'd first intended to go to; she'd planned to attend the prestigious women's university her older sister was attending, but something about the small campus and its plethora of trees and flowers had drawn her in and Fuu hadn't regretted making the choice to go here instead. She had two roommates, Hikaru and Umi, who were very different from her but were quickly becoming her new closest friends. Her intro to med track classes were engaging, and there was even an archery club on campus. It was going so well that part of her couldn't help but wait for the other shoe to drop. Because as wonderful as life could be, it was never so nice all the time…

Fuu shook herself out of her musings as Umi crashed into their shared dorm room wailing.

"Aaaaaah, business is the _worst_ major ever! I thought it was supposed to be easy! Just do some reports, yadda, yadda, have a presentation or whatever. Plenty of time for fencing tournaments and joining the baking club but _no!_ " Umi flopped dramatically onto the common room couch. Her face squished into the pillow, muffling the rest of her rant. "There has to be a butt load of group projects."

"I thought your classes were going well," Fuu said. She turned her desk chair around to watch Umi flail a bit before coming up out of the pillow for air.

"They are. It's just that damn shorty professor gives the worst assignments." Umi sighed. "This time he wants us to work in a group and interview local businesses."

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"I'm stuck with _Tarta,_ " Umi groaned.

Ah. It seemed that at least once a week Umi had some sort of major problem in her life. Fuu wouldn't necessarily say Umi was prone to dramatics, but she was very vocal about when something had her stressed, and venting out loud seemed to be her most reliable stress relief. There were two things that came up regularly; her intro to business professor and Tarta, another girl on the fencing team. It seemed today the two were both the issue making it worse than usual.

"Is she a bad student?" Fuu asked.

"No, but she hates me, so it's going to suck." Umi sat up, using the couch like it was meant to be used. "Hopefully our other group member will smooth things out, but I still hate that I have to work with her." She shook her head. "Anyway, enough about my issues. Is Hikaru in?"

"I believe she is still at tutoring at the moment." Fuu said, glancing at her watch. At a quarter after three, Hikaru's Thursday classes would be done, and she would be seeking out the math tutor, if Fuu remembered correctly.

"Dang, I was going to invite her to come with us."

"With us?" Fuu raised an eyebrow.

Umi grinned. "To the bakery. If I'm stuck interviewing local businesses I'm at least gonna make sure they're places I like going to."

Fuu looked between the small pile of articles she still had to read and Umi's excited face. Well, there would still be plenty of time later. "We can bring her back something sweet," Fuu said.

"Yessss!" Umi bounced to her feet. "You're the best roommate. C'mon, you can scope out the best cakes while I talk to the owner!"

 **Fuu has a bad first impression**

The Forest was a bakery on the main street off campus, tucked between a store selling yarn and knitting goods, and a tiny hole in the wall Chinese restaurant. Fuu had passed it before and thought it ostentatious for such a small town. Its storefront was painted a pristine white with silver lettering resembling trees stenciled across the front display window. The cakes on display were decorated with spun-sugar sculptures resembling a castle and a forest of cupcakes around it. All of this war perched on top of spindly silver pedestals with satiny fabric artfully ruffled at the bottom. It would have fit back home in the neighborhood she grew up in with fancy boutiques and jewelry stores, but next to a caricature of a boy holding a dumpling on the restaurant next door and the yarn store's kitschy yardstick and sweater display, it stuck out like a sore thumb.

"I've wanted to try something from here," Umi said as they entered. A bell jingled above them when the door opened. "But I hadn't really had the excuse to buy expensive cakes when I'm making my own cake every other week."

"You do make good cakes."

"I make the best cakes, but sometimes it's nice not to be the one making them."

Inside was just as overdone as the outside, continuing the white and silver theme. Fuu looked at a display of cupcakes covered in what looked like silver painted fondant snowflakes as Umi dragged her toward the main display case. How odd for there to be snowflake cupcakes in June.

"Ah, they're all so pretty!" Umi gasped, all but smooshing her face against the glass to look at row upon row of colorful, picture perfect baked goods. "They look almost too pretty to eat."

Their prices more than matched the time and effort it would take to get such perfect, near identical sweets. It was a good thing Hikaru hadn't come along. She wouldn't have been able to afford any of it and would have felt too guilty to let Umi or Fuu buy her anything even though money wasn't an issue for them. As Umi drooled over a blueberry cream cupcake with a fondant dragon coiled on top, Fuu eyed a cookie frosted with green and yellow swirls.

"Welcome," a woman said, entering from the back room. "How can I help you?" She was tall with long black hair pulled back in a braid. She dressed like the shop décor, elegant and expensive, in a blouse and skirt despite how the tailored clothing couldn't be practical for baking in. Fuu could tell at a glance that this had to be the owner. She elbowed Umi.

"Eh?" Umi jumped, looked up. "Oh! Right. It's just everything looks so good!" She smiled at the woman and the woman smiled politely back. "Hi, are you the owner of this shop? I'm Ryuuzaki Umi, a business student at the university. Would you be willing to answer a few questions about your shop?"

"Of course," the woman said with a smile.

Umi grinned and got down to business as Fuu perused the sweets. She was pretty sure Umi would go for the blueberry cream one, and Fuu was leaning toward the cookie, but choosing something for Hikaru was harder to decide. She went through each baked good in the case, weighing them. She was torn between something light and full of fluffy cream or something chocolate and rich. Hikaru seemed to like anything with sugar in it regardless of quality, but that didn't mean she couldn't put some thought into it.

Fuu debated over a delicate square of chocolate-raspberry cheesecake as the door chimed again. She didn't think much of it until someone beside her said, "If you're planning to get cheesecake, this is definitely not the place to get it."

"Excuse me?" Fuu said, looking up to find gold eyes and a scarred face far closer to hers than she was comfortable with.

The boy smirked, pointing to the cakes. "These. Very pretty, little works of art. Taste? Mediocre. If you want good baked goods, try Escudo. They're not statement pieces, but they can't be beat flavor wise."

The boy—or young man really; he looked to be around her age—looked scruffy with his hair barely long enough to tie back in a tail, worn sweatpants and t-shirt, and beat up sneakers. The facial scars and earring only added to his disheveled appearance.

"I know a guy who could get a pretty girl like you a discount there too," he added with a wink.

He must have that look work on a lot of girls because there was nothing but confidence in the expression. The assumption that she would fall for it as well was rather annoying. Fuu stared him down for a beat before looking back at the cakes. If her non-reaction discouraged him, he didn't show it.

"Are you from around here or…?" he trailed off.

Fuu was saved from the decision of whether to answer or not by Umi bouncing back to her side.

"I've got the interview, now on to the cake!" she said, tossing an arm around Fuu's shoulders. "Who's this?"

The boy straightened, putting on a charming smile. He opened his mouth, but the shop owner cut him off.

"I told you you're not welcome here," the woman said at him, her earlier professional smile a deep frown of distaste.

"Your exact words," he said brightly, "were that I wasn't allowed to waste your time window shopping. I'm here as a legitimate customer."

The woman narrowed her eyes. "Then pick quickly and move on."

"Wow, Alcyone, great customer service skills. Ten out of ten, would recommend," the boy drawled.

"Like you are any better," she said coolly.

"I'll have one of the mini cupcakes," he said, pointing to the cheapest items in the case. "Chocolate."

Tongs grabbed the confection a bit more violently than necessary before shoving it into a small paper bag. "Four hundred yen," Alcyone said.

The boy handed over his money and strolled out the door. Alcyone frowned after him.

"I apologize that you had to witness that," she muttered. "Was there anything you wanted to order?"

Umi rattled off a few different cupcakes and cookies, and Fuu got her cookie and the strawberry cream cake for Hikaru. The cakes were boxed up—much more care being given for their condition—the bill paid, and they were back on their way. Somehow Fuu wasn't surprised to find the boy lingering outside waiting for them.

"Hey," he said with a grin, shifting out of his lazy slouch against the wall to wave. "Wow, you sure stocked up."

"Is that supposed to be implying something?" Umi asked, narrowing her eyes.

"No, no! Clearly you're both women who can appreciate the finer things in life."

"If you're trying to mooch a cookie off us, that's really not the way to do it," Umi said.

"No?" He grinned. "But I'm not interested in the baked goods; Alcyone's stuff is more sugar than taste if you know what I mean."

"I'm not so sure you have any taste," Umi shot back. "I mean who goes into someone's store and starts insulting what they're selling?"

He shrugged and didn't answer her, instead looking at Fuu. "So, you never answered. I'm guessing you're from the university?"

"None of your business!" Umi growled.

"Yup, from the university." He crossed his arms behind the back of his head. "Geeze, why'd you pick The Forest if you're uni students? That witch bleeds your pockets dry."

"Why did someone who looks a step away from being a bum buy something from her shop?"

"Umi-san," Fuu sighed.

"He does!"

"Oh, you got me! I'm just a poor nearly-homeless bum one meal away from starvation," the boy said in the same flippant tone he'd used the whole time. "Clearly I'm barely educated and only have weird knowledge of baked goods."

"You're weird all right."

"Ouch. Insult after insult."

He was still smiling for some reason. Normally Fuu wasn't the type to get annoyed by strangers, but he was getting on her nerves in record speed.

"Umi-san," Fuu repeated.

"You know what?" Umi pulled out one of the cookies she'd bought. "You're gonna be a weirdo mooch, have a cookie and go!" She tossed it at the boy's head.

He caught it, laughing. "Why thank you. Just what I needed, sugar with my sugar."

"Go!" Umi made shooing motions. "You've been fed, go bother someone else."

"Fine, fine." He gave a theatrical bow. "My gratitude for the baked good. May you lovely ladies have a wonderful day." He aimed his smile in Fuu's direction before walking off in the opposite direction of campus, munching on his cookie.

Fuu frowned after him as Umi put her bag of baked goods back in order. "Umi-san, in the future if someone is bothering us, we should just keep walking."

"Well, yeah." Umi huffed, rolling her bag shut. "But he wasn't bad on the eyes, just a jerk. Why do all the hot people have to have shitty personalities, Fuu?"

"Umi-san, your priorities are skewed." Of course Umi was paying attention to his looks even as she traded insults. Sometimes Fuu wondered if she should worry about if Umi ever chose to date.

"Well if he was going to be rude and creepy, I was at least going to appreciate something about him. And he left rather than following us, so all good." Umi slung an arm around Fuu's shoulder. "Forget about the weirdo though. I got my interview and we've got cake to eat! You can have a bite of the stuff I got and we can compare what's best for next time. Ooh! And we'll save some for Hikaru too. Maybe I'll get some ideas for what to bake next!"

Fuu let Umi pull her along towards campus as she enthused about the sweets.

She was disappointed with her cookie later though; the boy had been right that it mostly just tasted like sugar.

 **Ferio goes to work**

Ferio was humming by the time he got to Escudo. The sugar he'd consumed was part of it; it was hard to not be buzzed after an afternoon filled with sweets. Mostly it was because he was in a good mood.

"Someone's happy," Caldina teased as he walked through the door. She must be hanging out with Lafarga again watching him prep some of the doughs for tomorrow's baked goods.

"Ran into some pretty girls," Ferio said with a grin. He liked Caldina. She was like a nosy cousin in the best ways, only thankfully nothing like his actual cousins since they were sticks in the mud.

"Flirt," she said grinning back.

"So, got some intel on the bakeries in the area," Ferio called to Lafarga as he dug out his work clothes from the over-stuffed closet that collected odds and ends from employees over the years.

"And mixed business with pleasure," Lafarga commented. "What have I said about flirting on the clock?"

"Keep it professional and impersonal," Ferio said. "Like it doesn't bring more customers back." Caldina cackled. Ferio winked at her, switching his shirts. "And I'm not even on the clock yet."

"You were doing work for me, you're on the clock."

"It's more part of my rent agreement than for the shop." His voice was muffled by the closet door as he switched out the rest of his clothes out of Caldina's sight. She might not care if he was half naked in front of her, but he still had a bit too much propriety drilled into him to strip to his underwear in front of his boss's girlfriend.

"Speaking of, your payment for this month is coming up. You want to pay me or would you rather I took it from your next paycheck?" Lafarga had his eyebrow up meaning he was judging Ferio for changing in the closet again, but that was fine. He'd rather be comfortable and have to change than go around in his work clothes before he had to.

"I'll pay you." Better to do the finances himself and make sure he had what he needed for school first, then go from there. Lafarga would just have him work extra if he was a bit short, but university wasn't quite so forgiving.

Lafarga nodded. "So, what did you get when you weren't flirting?"

"Well," Ferio said, feeling like humming all over again, "for one Alcyone's barely changed her stock and is still going with her ice theme even though it's summer. She did change her chocolate cake a little—frosting's richer, but still not as good as yours. Cookie was vanilla and sugar. Pretty much all you could taste, just with a buttery after note and then more sugar because she frosts the things. They really don't need it." Ferio washed up and jumped in with prep work, stirring so Lafarga could move on to the next batch. Looked like this was for one of the doughnuts. "Might want to send someone else to check on Alcyone next time though. Thought she was going to literally kick me out of the shop for a minute there."

"I'll have Lantis scope her out next time, then."

Ferio opened his mouth to say that Lantis might not be a good choice either, but what the hell, Alcyone didn't hate him like she hated Ferio. If anything she projected Zagato on him, and while it was pretty creepy, if Lantis had a problem with it he could take it up with Lafarga himself.

"Anything else?" Lafarga prompted.

Ferio went through his usual list of places, and Caldina chimed in from time to time with things she'd tried recently at one place or another. He and Lafarga moved around the kitchen without stepping on each other's toes and the doughs were set aside and tomorrow's cakes set to bake.

By the time Lantis poked his head back to swap who was working the counter, Ferio's good mood was still going strong.

He would blame the extra sugar from that last cookie, but at the end of the day he'd always gotten more of a boost from people than sugar. He kind of hoped he'd run into those girls again sometime.

 **Hikaru makes a new friend**

There was always someone in the classroom when Hikaru arrived for her class. It was in the science building, and it was the only class she ever got to early, so for all Hikaru knew, more classes had people lingering and shuffling things around in the time between classes. He was older than most of her classmates. He always had a small smile on his lips when he noticed her like he was inviting her to share a secret but he never spoke to her. He completed whatever it was he was doing and left. Hikaru had had quite a few class meetings here now and he'd been there every time. If he wasn't going to speak to her, she supposed she would just have to talk to him.

So this time when she walked into the classroom Hikaru asked, "What are you doing?"

The man gave her his usual smile, but Hikaru thought it looked more pleasantly surprised than secretive today. "I'm cleaning up from an earlier lab and preparing for the next one," he said. He had a soft voice, but it suited him.

Hikaru set her bag down and wandered over to watch him prepare slide after slide. They were all thin cross sections of different plant parts, she noted, in line with the lesson plan for the day according to the syllabus. "You're here even when we don't have a lab day."

"You're right." He set a finished slide in a holding rack. "But there are a lot of classes that have labs in a week and only a bit of time to prepare for them."

"Oh. I guess that makes sense." It was repetitive and soothing to watch him work. "My name's Hikaru. What's yours?"

"A pleasure to formally meet you, Hikaru-san. You can call me Eagle."

"Nice to meet you," Hikaru said back. She looked at the slides. "Is setting up labs a lot of work?"

"Sometimes," Eagle said. "But I do get paid for it, so it's not that bad."

"Oh, so it's a job! I kind of wondered."

"I'm a teacher's assistant. Technically, I'm a graduate student and this is just one more way to help pave the way to my end goal."

Hikaru nodded. There had to be some value in working behind the scenes even if it was only helping to pay tuition costs. "And what is your goal, Eagle?"

Eagle hummed, finishing up the last slide. "I wonder… I want to change things and leave an impact on the world. Getting my biochem degree was the first step."

"I see," Hikaru said.

"And you, Hikaru-san?" Eagle asked with an enigmatic smile.

"I don't know yet!" Hikaru had met people who looked scared or upset when they said those words, but as for herself, not knowing wasn't a big deal. It meant that there were any number of possibilities still open just waiting for her to commit to them. She kind of liked that. "I think I'd like to help people be happy though. Not as a doctor like Fuu-chan. I don't think I'm good enough with that kind of stuff to help people that way, but I'd like to make people smile, you know?"

"That's as worthy a goal as any," Eagle said. "Here's to vaguely defined goals." He raised the dish of plant cross sections in mock toast. "Let's both do our best to make them come true."

Hikaru giggled and was pleased to see a smile on Eagle's face in return.

Eagle packed everything away where they needed to be for the next class before nodding Hikaru's way. "I'm afraid I'll have to get to my next class now. Thank you for the company, it's made the work go faster."

"Any time!" Hikaru said, meaning it.

As Eagle left, Hikaru decided she'd take the chance to talk with him before every class from here on out. He seemed like he'd be an interesting friend. She grinned to herself as people started trickling into the classroom.

o~O~o

AN2:Okay. So. This fic is a bit different from how I normally write. It's written in shorter snippets. These snippets range through multiple viewpoints, might be back to back continuous scenes, or they might be large jumps in time. They might be random and silly or they might further the loose arcing plot. This might annoy some people, but I found that that was just about the only way that this story was going to be done in a reasonable amount of time (read, not half a decade like my other ongoing longer works). Basically every chapter is going to consist of 4-5 snippets. Each chapter will further Fuu and Ferio's relationship in some way, as they are the main pairing. Most chapters will have one Fuu and one Ferio perspective. Some will have more, some will only have Fuu's perspective. The rest will range between other characters and further their personal plot lines. It's a little chaotic and a little weird. I hope that it's fun all the same. I had a lot of fun working on this and coming up with random head canons.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

 ** _IN WHICH…_**

 **Fuu makes a tea run**

There wasn't any tea in the cupboard. Ordinarily, Fuu kept at least two varieties at any point in time, but between a round of papers and a mild cold, her supply had been dwindling. Still, she'd thought she had some left. She looked at the empty tin, specks of tea leaves caught in the corners.

"Ah," Hikaru said, noticing her holding it. "I'm sorry, I had a cup of tea this morning…I was planning to go buy more tomorrow and left the tin so I'd know what brand."

Fuu closed the tin, shaking her head. "Ah, no it's fine, Hikaru-san. I did say you could have some whenever you wanted." And Hikaru didn't need to buy more of it; Fuu was more than willing to share. She'd just been hoping for a cup at the moment to fuel her studying…

"I can go buy some right now if you want..?" Hikaru fretted.

"It's fine," Fuu repeated. It wasn't that long a walk to the store, and she could probably use the break anyway. Hikaru had an evening class coming up, too, and it wouldn't do for her to be late because she was picking up tea from the store.

"If I go right now, I can—"

"Really, Hikaru-san," Fuu said, committing to the plan. "There are a few things I need to get from the store anyway."

After a moment, Hikaru nodded. "Well…okay. But help yourself to my candy stash, and you can have an extra cookie or two next time my brothers send some over."

Fuu smiled. "Thank you, Hikaru-san." Hikaru's oldest brother made wonderful baked goods. Wonderful anything edible, really.

She left Hikaru to her usual last minute scramble to gather up notebooks and homework and made her way downhill into town.

Fuu didn't get out enough, she reflected. While she walked from class to class, there wasn't much time to take note of the trees lining the campus streets, or how spring flowers were slowly dying back in favor of summer ones. Usually her nose was buried in her notes or already planning the next steps of her day. Granted, that was on her mind now too.

She might have bitten off more than she could chew with her course load. Five classes and her archery hadn't seemed like that much when she signed up; she had always kept busy in high school. Fuu hadn't expected the work load to be quite the step up it had been or expected how having more of a social life would impact her work habits.

There was a research paper she should start on. Granted she still hadn't decided on the topic… Preliminary research would help with that, though Fuu was considering a focus on the effects and treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome since it was something becoming more and more prevalent in the computer age. Then there was ranking coming up in archery—no worries there; Fuu would keep doing what she had been doing. Her practice routine was more than sufficient to ensure a decent ranking. Four chapters of reading to do by tomorrow afternoon, one article write up by Friday, and the usual worksheet that would be passed around tomorrow after class of problems to solve. Somewhere in there Fuu would have to call her family. It had been more than a week since their last conversation and she did try to be in touch fairly regular to keep her parents from worrying…

She sighed, the pleasantness of her surroundings lost for the moment by the growing to do list in her head. It only seemed to get longer the further the semester progressed. This was why she had the tea, not for the caffeine it provided, but for the brief period of calm she allowed herself while it brewed and as she drank it.

She couldn't really fault Hikaru for taking that same opportunity.

Fuu turned down a street, expecting to see the grocery store on her left in the distance only to stop as she found herself on a street she didn't recognize. A glance at the street signs showed she'd passed the correct street several turns ago, too lost in her plans to notice. She'd never been down this road, never felt the need to explore to the extent Umi did.

This street wasn't as busy as the one the grocery store was on. There were fewer cars, though there were still some pedestrians wandering from shop to shop. A blue sign caught her eye a few shops down. Escudo. The name itched at her until she remembered the man from the cake shop. That had been the place he recommended, if Fuu remembered correctly. Fuu glanced back toward where she'd come from. She really did need to buy that tea and get on with her schedule, but… Curiosity got the better of her.

Lantis is a tea person

Escudo didn't appear to be a bakery—or not just a bakery. As she got closer, she realized it was a coffee shop, the front windows revealing a few tables and a comfortable arm chair. The furniture was mismatched and the décor was minimal, consisting of what appeared to be vintage coffee items and a few abstract art pieces that likely came from artists on campus. If she squinted, Fuu could make out a counter and a display case that had to hold the baked goods that were supposedly better than Alcyone's.

"About what I would expect from a coffee house," she murmured to herself. Those were supposed to be welcoming and comfortable, right? And coffee houses didn't just serve coffee…ah! There was a stand with a dozen tea varieties and a row of jars with house blends of loose leaf that Fuu could appreciate a lot more than the various coffee derived drinks written on the board.

Well, she hadn't had any tea today and she did enjoy trying new blends…

There was a tall, dark haired man behind the counter rinsing out a small metal pitcher. He looked at her without expression for a beat before setting the pitcher aside. "Welcome to Escudo," he said without inflection. "How can I help you."

"Do you have any recommendations on your tea blends?" Fuu asked. She had half an eye on the baked goods. Compared to The Forest, the prices were much more reasonable and the portions were large.

"Tea?" the man said, a hint of pleased surprise entering his voice. He probably didn't get many requests for tea recommendations in a coffee shop, especially since it was a college town. "The current apricot tea blend turned out really well. It's a green tea base with a light flavor."

"It sounds lovely." And just what she would want halfway through the day. "I'll have a small tea then."

"Anything to go with that?"

"Actually," Fuu started, but was cut off by someone coming from the back room.

"Lantis, Lafarga needs you to help with the—oh."

Fuu and the boy who had recommended the coffee shop over a week ago stared at each other. He wasn't dressed in clothes that looked a breath away from the end of their usefulness this time; he had on the same button down shirt the man behind the counter wore, the sleeves rolled up to keep them out of the way. He recovered first, a smile spreading across his face.

"Lafarga needs some help in the back," he finished. "I can take over here."

The man, Lantis, raised an eyebrow but turned away.

"So," the boy said, leaning against the counter, "decided to take my recommendation, eh?"

"Actually, I took a wrong turn." His name card had "Ferio" written on it in cramped, neat handwriting.

"Well, you're here either way. What can I get you?"

"Small tea."

"Honey with that?" Ferio asked, sweeping up a paper cup.

"No."

"Anything to go with it? I do recommend the cheesecake here, by the way. Sweet strawberry cheesecake for the lovely lady in pink?"

He clearly thought that was charming. Fuu resisted rolling her eyes. Then again, pretty much anything would sound like a cheesy come on when he was smiling like the smile was just for her. She had been leaning toward the strawberry cheesecake, but after that, she would get a muffin instead. "Cinnamon muffin to go," Fuu said.

"Another good choice," he said filling the cup up with hot water. "Is there a name to go with your order?"

Fuu looked around. There were a few people at a table and a woman sneaking glances their way near a display of coffee related things, but no one else waiting on an order that would require her giving him her name. "I'll just have my order to go."

"Ouch," he muttered, more to himself than her. He handed over the tea and got her the muffin. "That will be five hundred yen, then milady."

Fuu paid, collected her things, and got the blend Lantis had recommended. It smelled nice, lightly fruity but not overpoweringly so. The other blends sounded good as well. She might have to come back to try them and hope that Ferio wasn't working the counter that day.

"Try the muffin!" Ferio called after her as she made her way toward the door. "It is way better than Alcyone's sugar fest."

Fuu just nodded and kept walking.

"Please come again! Maybe next time you can try that cheesecake, my treat!"

The door closed on his words and Fuu took a moment to pull herself together. Why did he bother her so much? Normally she could get along with anyone, or at least ignore their less likable parts. Granted not many people seemed interested in flirting with her. Fuu shook her head and started back where she'd come from.

The first taste of her tea halfway back to the grocery store was just as good as it had smelled. The bite she took from the muffin was good enough that Fuu knew she'd be back to try more of their baked goods, teas aside. It really wasn't fair that Ferio had been right. But if she showed disinterest long enough, maybe he'd take the hint.

 **Ferio does _not_ have a crush**

Ferio looked after the girl with the glasses a little disappointed he hadn't managed to get her to smile. Usually he could do that. It was one of the reasons he'd been hired. He could get a blush or a laugh or a shy smile from girls, and they often came back. It was a pity. She probably looked really cute with a smile.

"So," Caldina said, leaving her vantage point by the display to lean on the counter with a grin. "Got a crush, huh?"

"What?" Ferio waved his hands. "No, no, it's not a crush! She's just some girl I ran into the other day!"

"Who yer flirtin' with pretty heavy there."

"Caldina, I flirt with every lovely lady that enters the shop," Ferio said. He added in a theatrical bow in her direction. He would never actually hit on Caldina, not because she'd take him seriously—no, Caldina was a bigger flirt than him regardless of the target's gender—but because she was dating Lafarga, and flirting with his boss's girlfriend would definitely be crossing a line.

"But ya _like_ this one." She grinned, leaning forward in a way that brought too much attention to where her cleavage was making an escape from her oversized crop-top's collar. "It's in yer eyes. Didn't know ya liked the hard to get smart lookin' type."

"I don't like her that way, she's just interesting!" Damn but his blush was probably completely contradicting his words. "I don't even know her name!"

"Ask her again next time. She seemed to like the tea so she'll probly come back." Caldina winked slowly. "Then ya just haveta show her how much've a gentleman ya can be, get comfortable talking, then put on the moves." She shimmied her torso and Ferio looked up at the ceiling tiles like they were suddenly the most interesting thing in the room. Yup. Still white and speckled, with a dent from the time Ferio got burned and accidentally launched a stirring rod straight into the ceiling. Ah. Memories. "Anyway, she's not completely uninterested, hon," Caldina continued. "She's curious about ya, and that's a start."

Ferio sighed. "I'm not going to be able to convince you that I'm not interested am I?"

"Nope." She grinned, white teeth stark against her tan skin. "But ya can thank me later when my awesome romantic advice pans out."

"If you're done talking, can you please get the next customer?" Lantis said returning from the back. He didn't sound annoyed, but then Lantis was really hard to read most of the time. He had the same resting bitchface the whole time and Ferio could never tell if he was annoyed, tired, or just didn't care about anything. Right now it was probably a safe bet to say annoyed since a line had formed while Caldina chatted with him.

"Right," Ferio said. "Later, Caldina. Duty calls."

"Ain't you the dedicated worker," Caldina drawled, snickering at him. "Later, Hon, off to my date~!" She winked and skipped toward the back where Lafarga was probably still prepping things for tomorrow or doing accounts, or whatever else he did when he wasn't out front acting as their manager and face of Escudo.

Ferio straightened his apron and pasted on a smile, turning it up a notch to flirtatious when he saw that it was a woman waiting. See, Caldina? He flirted with everyone, definitely not interested in the girl with glasses.

 **Umi has a brief sexuality crisis**

It was only ten minutes after Hikaru left for class and Fuu started in on her reading that Umi stomped into the dorm room. "I'm having a crisis."

"School crisis, relationship crisis, or family?" Fuu asked, not looking up from her reading. Umi had yet to have the latter pop up. That was generally more Hikaru's realm of issues, and even then with Hikaru it was just calming down overprotective siblings.

"Personal crisis."

Fuu looked up. "Oh dear, what happened?"

Umi stared at some point over Fuu's shoulder, rocking back and forth on her heels. "By personal crisis, I mean sexuality crisis. I don't… I think. I think I might like girls." She let out a breath. "No, I _know_ I like girls."

Fuu blinked. "Oh. Okay. Is that a problem?"

It seemed that Umi had expected a bigger reaction as she flailed a little. "No? I never really thought about it before, but it makes sense. I always liked how girls looked, I just never really thought past that." She finally met Fuu's eyes, a blush growing on her cheeks. This was the first time Fuu'd ever seen her look embarrassed. Umi was one of the least self-conscious people Fuu knew.

"What changed?" Fuu asked encouragingly.

"I almost kissed Tarta. After almost punching her in the face." Umi rocked on her feet a few more times, twisting her fingers together.

"Oh dear." No wonder Umi looked so conflicted.

"Yeah." Umi stopped rocking and scratched the back of her head. "That's not normal is it? You know what, don't answer that. So yeah. Girls." She blushed harder and glanced at Fuu's face. Fuu tried to keep her expression open and supportive. "Uh, just to be clear, I don't think about you or Hikaru like that. You're like sisters to me."

"It's fine, Umi-san. I won't judge you on who you like." Even if Fuu had thought Umi did like her that way, it wouldn't have made her uncomfortable. Not that she would have been able to reciprocate the feelings though…

"Good."

"Are you okay?"

Umi nodded slowly. "Yeah. I kind of guessed I might like girls for a while it's just…it never really hit me before the way it did today. And it was because of _Tarta_." She wrinkled her nose.

Fuu hummed sympathetically. "It would be confusing to feel attraction to someone who annoys you."

"Exactly." Umi looked momentarily shy again. "Um. Thanks for not freaking out about…yeah."

Fuu raised an eyebrow. "There's no reason to. Who you are attracted to doesn't change who you are or my friendship with you."

Umi stood still for a few seconds longer before lunging across the room with a relieved smile on her face. "Gah, Fuu, you're the best friend! I don't deserve you!"

Fuu smiled and pulled Umi into a hug. "I love you too, Umi-san." Really Fuu was the lucky one. She'd found two vibrant people to bring color to her life.

"Right!" Umi said. "I'm going to make cupcakes! I'm gonna celebrate this!"

Fuu giggled. "You do that, Umi-san."

 **Hikaru got hit in the face**

It was a typical Thursday evening when Hikaru returned from her kendo practice. Also like usual, Umi and Fuu had spread out books and homework on the floor near the couch to sit side by side and study together. Unlike usual was the two inch wide bruise across Hikaru's cheek from the corner of her mouth to almost touching her ear. Umi dropped flashcards in a messy pile on her biology textbook to point in alarm. "Hikaru! What happened to your face!?"

Hikaru smiled like her face wasn't turning purple on one side and trotted closer with her usual cheerful energy. "Ah! Umi-chan, Fuu-chan! I found a new sparring partner."

"What did they do, smack you in the jaw?" Umi asked, aghast. She stood up to get a better look and Fuu followed.

"Ah, no, I stepped wrong and missed a block…" Hikaru leaned away as Fuu touched her chin.

"Hikaru-san, you should ice this." It was a deep bruise and would probably turn green and yellow before the week was up. Fuu didn't like how big it was, and to the head, but Hikaru didn't seem to have a concussion. Her eyes tracked fine and her pupils looked normal.

"It's fine! Really!" Hikaru pushed their hands away. She dismissed their concerns with another smile that had to be painful considering the bruise's location. "It was just and accident. Lantis made sure I iced it earlier. It's fine."

"Half your face is black and blue! That's not fine." Umi scowled.

Fuu rather agreed with the sentiment. Hikaru was far too dismissive of her own injuries and overly concerned when it was someone else injured. Fuu's lips pressed in a firm line as she went for the mini refrigerator. They had a bag of frozen peas in there for exactly this sort of situation. Injuries weren't uncommon with all three of them in a sport, though Umi and Hikaru tended to get the worst of them.

"It barely hurts. Ow!"

"Sure it doesn't."

"If you don't poke it, it's fine! What the heck Umi-chan?"

Fuu wrapped the peas in a towel and carried them back over. Hikaru was frowning at Umi now, rubbing carefully around her bruise as Umi scowled back.

Fuu held out the peas. "Here, put this on it."

Now Hikaru pouted. "I really don't need it, but thanks Fuu-chan…" Fuu smiled when Hikaru relented and pressed the bag to her face. She might think she didn't need it, but her shoulders relaxed a little when the cold reached her skin.

"So who's this Lantis guy?" Umi asked.

Hikaru shrugged. "I think he's related to a student here? Or is a student? I don't know, but he was using the kendo club room to practice so I asked him to spar with me." She started grinning again. "He's really good! We were almost even until I slipped. He was really sorry about it… I don't think he's going to want to spar again…" The smile slid off her face at the thought. Umi rolled her eyes.

"Don't sound so disappointed, geeze. Next time he might break something."

"Nah, he pulled most of the blow. It's only this bad because I fell into it."

Oh dear. Fuu did not sigh, but she did close her eyes for a second. Hikaru wasn't usually clumsy at least. It was Umi who would trip over her own feet if she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings. Still, Hikaru seemed attached to this new acquaintance already.

"You sound sure you will see him again," Fuu said.

"Ah, yeah. He wouldn't stop apologizing, so I told him he could get me lunch sometime this week and I'd call us even." Hikaru perked up.

"Wait. Lunch as in just getting lunch or lunch as in lunch date?" Umi asked.

"Lunch lunch? I don't know. I don't know if I like him like that yet."

"He hit you in the face!"

"Yeah? It was an accident?"

Umi and Fuu exchanged a look over Hikaru's head.

"Okay, maybe I'm not the most messed up one," Umi grumbled.

Fuu raised an eyebrow. "Tarta."

"Ok, shut up Fuu. Shut up."

Fuu smiled.

Hikaru cleared her throat. "Oh and, uh, can you…not mention this to my brothers? They would probably try to kill him. Actually kill him."

All three of them winced. There had been an incident when they moved into the dorm involving a boy accidentally running into Hikaru. Who knew how they would react to this. Umi scrubbed a hand through her bangs. "Yeeeeah, let's skip the potential homicide."

"Thanks."

"So…is he at least hot?" Umi leered at Hikaru. Hikaru blushed.

"Umi-san!" Fuu said. Was it really the time?

"What? You tease me about my crushes, I can tease Hikaru."

"Um." Hikaru fiddled with the end of the towel still blushing. "He's got kind eyes. And his sword form is awesome."

They both waited for more, or maybe a physical descriptor, but Hikaru was now avoiding looking at either of them.

Umi sighed. "…I don't know why I thought you'd have conventional tastes."

Fuu had to laugh at that; it was safe to say none of them had conventional tastes.

* * *

Notes:

Lantis strikes me as a tea person. So for this universe he's the one coming up with tea blends at the coffee shop while Lafargasupervises and comes up with coffee blends. In reality I have to wonder how a small coffee shop in Japan would go with tea since tea is such a large part of Japanese culture, but let's be honest, I'm basing this coffee shop more off one near my home town than anything else. As for how quickly Umi's crisis is resolved, well, that's the thing with sexuality. You can know you like a sex or gender but it won't really hit you until a random moment (or multiple moments) and you can react differently each time. (because there's knowing and then there's *knowing in regards to specific people in your life* and those are rather different understandings of self. Can honestly say I did not handle it near so well as Umi when I had a KNOW knowing moment.) Note for Fuu's mental "would not be able to reciprocate those feelings..." and Umi's "I think of you as sisters"- I feel like pretty much every CLAMP character is at least somewhat bi just how they're written/drawn, and I totally see shipping the magic knights, in this fic tho, Fuu's straight and Umi isn't crushing on her friends (though it's more of a mental 'these people are off limits' than anything else, all subconscious like)

I hope people are enjoying this. Side note, Umi's fun to write because she's really over the top, Hikaru's optimism is so different from me that it's kind of a weird mentality for me to experience, and Fuu's analytical tendencies resonate with me most. It was fun doing a broad range of voices for this fic.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: I got psyched by positive feedback so have an early chapter 3**

 **CHAPTER 3**

 _ **IN WHICH...**_

 **There is a chance meeting on campus**

It was almost too sunny, Fuu thought as she made her way out of the library. Either that or she had been spending too much time indoors lately between a research project and a recent exam. If she stopped to think about it, she'd either been in class, studying, at the archery range, or at the apartment for the last week and a half. That time was a blur of books and notes and whittling down her tea supply with a few bright memories of spending meal times with Umi and Hikaru.

But now the research project was finished and emailed to her professor, and her usual class at this time was canceled due to that professor having a conference to attend. For once she had all the time in the world to do what she wanted with it; she had all the homework and reading done for the week already. Now what to do with that time? Umi had class and Hikaru used this time of the day to eat a hurried lunch and cram in as much studying in one go as her brain could handle. There wasn't anyone else Fuu felt comfortable with calling at short notice, so in the end she found herself wandering campus.

Cephiro University had lovely landscaping and architecture. It was one of the things that had attracted Fuu to attending there. It was particularly lovely now; the closer it got to summer, the more flowers seemed to pop up in unexpected places, like cupped in the hands of a statue or vines draped down the side of the History building. She wasn't sure what sort of vine it was on the History building, but it had a large number of white flowers that smelled very nice as she walked by. This was an area of the campus she didn't have reason to be in very often, so many of her classes being located in the science quad rather than the humanities.

Around behind the history building was a green space with some trees and tables that people studied under during good weather. There was a group there now. …A group that had a familiar scarred face and scruffy hair pulled back into a tail. He was wearing the same worn, baggy sweatpants Fuu had seen him in at the bakery. Surprisingly, she recognized one of the people he was with, the teenage boy who was one of Umi's project partners in her business class. She didn't recognize the third person with them. They were laughing, open and unrestrained, and Fuu couldn't help staring at Ferio. He looked a lot nicer laughing when it wasn't mixed with flirting.

She squashed that thought with a blush. Why was he on campus? Was he a student too? Friends with students? Probably a student if he was dressed like that all the time since there were a lot of professors that didn't care if their students were presentable and—Ferio looked up and caught her eye. Fuu blushed harder and had the embarrassing urge to duck back behind the History building and pretend she hadn't seen anything.

He said something to his friends and started jogging toward her. …She should have just kept walking. Or maybe pretended she had a class in the History building. Why was it so uncomfortable to be caught looking? Fuu took a couple steps back toward the History building so she wasn't in line of sight for Ferio's friends anymore at least.

Ferio was grinning when he caught up to her. "Hey! I don't see you around here very often, Ms. University Student."

"I can't say I've seen you either," Fuu said.

"Haha, well surprise, I'm a student too." He winked. "You can pass on to your friend that I'm not a bum after all."

"I'm amazed that you get away with what you're wearing."

"Humanities classes. Gotta love them."

Fuu looked him over. He still had a wide smile on his face, watching her right back, and looked far too happy to see her considering they'd talked only a handful of times. But then she hadn't kept on walking either, had she? "You're a…History major then?" she guessed since they were right next to the building.

"Minor," Ferio said. "Athletic Training major, but mostly working on Gen Ed requirements this semester. And you?"

"…Medical track." He still didn't know her name, so no harm in mentioning her major, right?

"Pretty and smart," Ferio said. "Now do you have a sense of humor under that serious face or…?"

Fuu sighed. There went her desire to possibly continue the conversation. "What sense of humor I have, you're not likely to see if you keep doing that."

"Doing what?"

"Flirting." She frowned at him.

"Oh." He rocked back on his feet. "It's kind of automatic. Uh. I can try not to?"

"Please."

He looked sheepish for a moment, scrubbing the back of his hair with a hand before that equally irritating and attractive confidence was back. "Have you been back to Escudo? There's some new desserts with local berries, and I think Lantis said he has a new seasonal tea blend—uh, but I couldn't really tell you what's in it since I don't really drink tea much myself."

"I've been back a few times." Conveniently, Ferio hadn't been working. Neither had the man—Lantis?—who had been at the counter the first time. Instead there had been a tall blond man with more muscles than she would have expected from someone who worked in a coffee shop.

"Cool." His easy confidence faltered. "I guess…I'll see you around there or maybe on campus?"

"I still plan to be around both locations," Fuu said, feeling amused. Why he would even want to run into her again when she'd been cold toward him from the start, she didn't know, but… Well, if they ran into each other again, they ran into each other again. She wasn't going to go out of her way to avoid him. Fuu wasn't planning on going out of her way to interact with him either though.

"Great!" He smiled at her, and it was a real, happy, no flirtation at all smile. Her heart sped up a little. It needed to stop doing that. "I gotta head out to my next class, but I'll see you!" He took a step back, two, and waved. "And I work mornings first half of the week, afternoons on weekends, and evenings the later half of the week. In case you were wondering!"

Fuu waved back on reflex. She hadn't been wondering about his work schedule. Though it was useful if she wanted to deliberately avoid him.

She wouldn't. She'd go to Escudo when she felt like it, no matter the time.

Fuu realized she'd been standing watching Ferio's back with her hand raised for a few seconds too long. Her hand snapped back to her side.

Ferio was probably the sort of boy that flirted with everyone. He'd even said it was automatic. It didn't mean anything. She certainly didn't want it to mean anything.

Truly.

Fuu marched back toward the science quad. It was only a coincidence that it was in the opposite direction than Ferio and his friends were headed.

 **Ferio sees Fuu everywhere**

Considering they used very different parts of campus most of the time, Ferio went from never seeing the girl with the glasses anywhere, to seeing her _everywhere_. Granted, he reasoned, she hadn't been on his radar before. Maybe she had always gotten lunch at the grab and go place near the library on Tuesdays. And maybe she was always in the library on Thursdays and Fridays in the middle of the day. The point was, he hadn't noticed her there and now he did, and the more she popped up out of the corner of his eye, the more Ferio thought about her. And the more he thought about her, the more he noticed how her serious study face was really cute. And she got fruit and yogurt as a snack and smiled if it had granola with it. And there was something weirdly attractive about seeing her read in the shade of that big tree near the campus south entrance.

Ferio sighed. His hands moved on automatic, mixing up a coffee order with his usual accuracy, but without his usual flair. It was the busy time of day, morning rush with one order after another, when he couldn't really afford to be spaced out, but he was anyway all because of some girl he'd talked to a couple times and wire frame glasses.

Lafarga had kicked him off cash register duty to coffee duty for the morning rush because he'd made people repeat their orders too many times and hadn't been able to pull up his usual level of cheer and chattiness.

He covered the cardboard cup, called out the name, and moved on to the next order.

This wasn't sustainable. Ferio needed to get a grip. There was school and work to keep him more than busy enough.

He didn't have time for a crush on some girl whose name he didn't even know.

…It was a stretch to call it a crush. Of course. His inner Caldina could shut up at any time.

Ferio repeated orders in his head until his thoughts were fixed on the next order of coffee and fetching another tray of muffins from the back rather than the person her was definitely not thinking about.

 **Lantis and Eagle reunite**

Finding Eagle outside after a psychology class, Lantis's first thoughts were less to question why he was there, more _why now?_ He'd half expected Eagle to show up a handful of times over the past year, and he hadn't. Not when Lantis transferred back to Cephiro. Not when Zagato died, nor at the funeral. He hadn't shown up during the winter break or the small stretch between graduation and the new semester. And yet here he was now with the same smile that first drew Lantis into his orbit years ago.

"You know, I expected to find you in the labs," Eagle said, like it hadn't been almost a year since they last spoke. "I admit, I was looking for a graduate student, so an intro level psychology class wouldn't have been my first guess."

Classmates moved around them, like a river parting around two immovable stones. There wasn't a single crack in Eagle's mask, none of the intricacies of his personality that Lantis had come to know showing through. Blank. Pleasant. Impersonal in a way that felt like an insult. "What are you doing here?"

Eagle's smile brightened. "I wanted to catch up with an old friend."

"Why are you at Cephiro, Eagle?" Lantis asked.

"So sharp!" Eagle tutted. "You'd think I wasn't allowed to go to graduate school." He tilted his head. "Still bio-chem if you're interested. _I_ didn't change that much since we last spoke."

There was just enough of an accusation in his emphasis to get under Lantis's skin. "I'm not the one who dropped contact."

"I'm not the one who broke up with an excuse."

Irritation shifted toward genuine anger. Lantis was glad the hallway had cleared out. "You said you understood why I had to transfer back."

"I did and do understand," Eagle said. He was still smiling. Lantis had forgotten how frustrating Eagle could be when he was angry. And Eagle was angry, Lantis could see now, micro expressions he hadn't had to read in a while coming back to him in how Eagle's shoulders were tense and his jaw was tight and the corners of his eyes didn't crinkle the way they did with a real smile. "What I don't understand is why you stayed."

Since that had an answer Lantis wasn't sure he could put into words, he shot back, "What I don't understand is how you never replied even after my brother died."

"Perhaps you weren't the only one with life changing circumstances at the time," Eagle said, voice gone cold. "Not that you ever asked in the months before that."

Lantis hated the spike of guilt he felt. Because Eagle always had liked to make people feel like they were the ones at fault. Even if it was a situation where everyone or no one could take the blame. He sighed. "I don't want to fight with you, Eagle."

The mask softened just a little. Eagle's shoulders were a fraction less rigid as his smile became a more neutral expression. "And I didn't come here to fight."

When he didn't add to that, Lantis turned away. Whatever Eagle meant to fill that silence with, it wasn't an emotion Lantis was feeling. "Then let's not fight, just go on with how we've been—"

"Wait." Eagle's hand circled his wrist. It was missing the calluses that Lantis remembered, ones formed by hours of sword work whenever the urge to spar took them and working with wires and circuits. It brought flashes of memory—a hand pulling him up after a fall...a hand holding him down with Eagle's grinning face above him. "I missed you."

Lantis held still as Eagle leaned his head against the back of his shoulders. "I still miss you," Eagle said.

He closed his eyes, throat tight. Lantis almost turned around. But the memories of sitting in an empty apartment, sleeping on the couch because for a month he couldn't bring himself to walk past Zagato's bedroom to reach his own were fresher than any of the happier ones with Eagle. "Why now, Eagle? Why a year later?"

"I couldn't at first." No reason why given, but the truth so far as Eagle saw it; he was always his most honest when you couldn't look him in the eye. "Then I was angry. Then depressed." Not enough to understand. Not enough to excuse anything. It still wasn't clear if Eagle wanted forgiveness or if he thought there was nothing in his actions to forgive. "I needed to figure out what I wanted and what I felt, and when I did it led me here."

"And what about what I want?" He felt Eagle hesitate against him.

"…If you no longer want anything to do with me, I can respect that. But I'd like to at least be friends again if you'll give me a chance."

Lantis wasn't sure he believed that Eagle would leave him alone if he asked. Eagle did what he wanted to in the end, even if it went against what someone else wanted. Lantis was still angry. How could he not be? He was more tired than angry though. Anger was never something that he could sustain, at least not anger at people. Lantis already could feel himself leaning toward forgiveness. By the end of the day, he'd probably have reached that point. If his brother were to rise from the dead, he knew he'd forgive him as well, even with all the heartbreak and grief Lantis had had to live through.

"Just friends?" Lantis said.

Eagle relaxed, leaning against Lantis's back; he knew he'd be forgiven. "If you were interested in more…" he said, more teasing than serious, though Lantis was willing to bet Eagle would happily pick up with their relationship where they'd left off.

"Just friends," Lantis said firmly. "If we can make that work."

"A blank slate. I can work with that."

It couldn't be blank with everything between them. With a sigh, Lantis shook off Eagle's arms. "So you're at Cephiro."

"Yep! And Geo and Zazu tagged along. I'm sure they'll be glad to see you." Eagle was smiling again. Lantis wasn't sure if he had the patience to deal with this invasion of his life. He'd make do like he always did though. "Tell me what's new in your life," Eagle said.

So Lantis did, letting Eagle lead them wherever he felt like going. And if Eagle skimmed over details of his own life in return, well, Lantis was used to that too.

 **Umi has a group project**

Professors that came up with semester long group projects were evil. That was kind of a foregone conclusion since the demon midget professor was the one giving out assignments. But who gave out a fifteen page project for an intro course? With an accompanying fifteen minute presentation? _Why did there have to be a group project at all?_ Umi would prefer having a project on her own, long paper and presentation and all because the working conditions were unbearable.

Normally a group project wouldn't be that bad except for… _Tarta_. Umi grit her teeth and steeled herself for getting through yet another unproductive group meeting. This was the third one they'd had since getting the assignment and they still hadn't agreed on a topic. _Why couldn't Ascot have been my only partner?_

Ascot was already at the library table they usually claimed, notes spread out with all the previous 'progress' they'd made in choosing an idea. No Tarta in sight.

"Umi-san," Ascot said, perking up as she walked over.

"Hey, Ascot." Umi tossed her bag down and slumped into one of the seats. "Let's get this over with."

"Um, I'm sure we'll make some headway today!" he mumbled. He was kind of a cute kid, teen prodigy and all. He had the hardest time stringing together sentences sometimes though. It kind of made Umi want to pat him on the head only that'd probably be insulting or something. "Actually if you look at what we've done so far we've actually, um, covered a range of things that's…that are _not_ what we're doing so…"

"Wow, y'all look like death warmed over," Tarta said behind Umi. Umi felt twinges of irritation because of _course_ she walked up in Umi's blind spot.

Umi scowled at her. "We were waiting for you."

"I'm not even late," Tarta grumbled, scowling right back.

"Whatever. Let's just get to work."

Ascot looked between the two of them as they sat and refused to look at each other. He cleared his throat and shuffled a few papers. "Uh, right, so! We've ruled out the potential for restaurants, boutiques, coffee houses, hobby shops, and auto stores to fill a potential market gap in the local infrastructure. Though I do feel like Umi-san had something going with the pet café and Tarta-san had a good point with the international goods store since there's a lot of students from overseas who likely miss things from home."

"If ya knew how hard it was to find decent masala spices," Tarta muttered under her breath.

"If you paid attention to how many people walk their dogs," Umi hissed back.

Ascot cleared his throat again. "That still leaves us without a market to look into." He picked up a piece of paper amidst the pile. "I've been doing some research of my own and I think I've found a good target market. We're a university town, but if you look at the area, the only place for visitors to stay in town is the university inn. And since it's university affiliated with no competition, they can afford to have extremely high prices. Now if anyone wants to visit the area to look at the school or visit students, they either have to stay there, or stay at the next town over—which is inconvenient" Ascot folded his hands over the piles of paper. "I propose looking into a bed and breakfast for our project."

Umi glanced at Tarta and found her looking back with the same grimace on her face. They wouldn't agree to each other's ideas, so it would come down to something Ascot thought up. "I guess that sounds like it would work," Umi said. Tarta shrugged.

Ascot sighed with relief, slumping forward a tiny bit. "Wonderful. So that means we can move on from here." He handed Umi one sheet of paper and Tarta another. "Tarta-san, you can look into where some of the best locations would be. Umi-san, you can look into what sort of spatial, labor, and legal requirements this would take. I'll look into the financial aspect of what running it would be versus getting everything prepared to start it. Sound like a plan?"

"Fine," Tarta mumbled. She pursed her lips at the paper he'd handed to her, but she didn't argue with the assignment. At the rate this project was going, it was probably for the best that Ascot had taken over as team leader.

"Great." Ascot started gathering papers. "Well, now that we have our concept, we can just dive into research. Let's meet back here next week. I'm going to go look into some books."

With that, he put his papers away and left them sitting together at the table. It was almost suspiciously quick, this meeting. Umi folded the corner of the paper, frowning at how easily Ascot had handled them. He'd had everything printed up too. Clearly he'd come to the meeting prepared to get them to agree on his topic or else. She felt a little bad that her issues with Tarta had affected him. And speaking of Tarta… Tarta was all but scowling at the task that had been assigned to her.

"How come I gotta do all the legwork?" she muttered.

Umi snorted. "You have to look at some buildings and floor plans. I have to dig through legal documents."

Tarta narrowed her eyes over the edge of her list. "Can't handle legalese? Not gonna get far in the business world."

"Like you've ever read that kind of thing. Besides, what's wrong with a little legwork? Not like you can't use the exercise."

Tarta bared her teeth. "You tryin' to imply somethin'?"

Umi bared hers right back feeling a thrill in the pit of her stomach the way she always did when they pissed each other off. She knew they should try to get along for the sake of the project but… "Your stamina could use some improvement. You looked pretty winded last time we fenced."

Tarta leaned right in her face. "Care ta back that up with a blade? Cuz if I remember right ya weren't much better."

"Rematch any time."

"I beat you, trade ya assignments."

"You're on." …It probably wasn't normal that she wanted to bite Tarta's face for being this close. Well, that or shove her, which would be bad. They were in a library. It would be very bad to brawl in a library.

Tarta looked satisfied, pulling back, and Umi was almost disappointed because she still felt the need to keep the tension between them. That was why Umi prodded on automatic, her mouth spewing words before her brain could catch up.

"It's not like you've won any of the last few matches anyway."

Tarta froze, her eyes narrowing. It was true that Umi had beat her the last three times, but their track record was still pretty even. And they didn't rub it in each other's face when they won, just exchanged snippy remarks and the loser would demand a rematch or vow to beat the winner next time. For how much they fought over little stuff, fencing was usually pretty civil, except for the part where they each loathed the other's style and base teachings. (Their matches went surprisingly well for coming from different fencing schools, but then Umi had had matches with Hikaru as well and kendo and fencing were farther apart than the style Tarta used.) "Excuse me?"

"I'll probably win the match," Umi's mouth continued. She knew she should shut up because she didn't actually want to get into a big fight in the middle of the library. Her mouth kept going anyway and her body tensed, prepared for however Tarta might respond. "So what would I get if I win? You win, we trade, I win and…?"

"Ya can make a demand," Tarta grumbled. "But ya gotta win first."

Umi made a soft dismissive sound, like it wouldn't be any trouble at all—lies since fighting Tarta was always a rush and a workout and satisfying in a way she couldn't describe, in a way no other opponent had ever gotten to her. It got to her in other ways, ways she only recently admitted to. She hadn't told Fuu the whole story of what exactly made her rethink her sexuality for a reason. Anticipation, or something like it curled in her as Tarta stiffened and slid into a more aggressive stance, fingers curled into white-knuckled fists under the pretty tan of her skin.

"We can go right now," Tarta said, leaning back in again—and that's what Umi had been hoping for. Intense, pinpoint focus back on her entirely.

Umi wet her lips, mouth dry all of a sudden. "Go to the gym and get our fencing stuff right now," Umi said, "and if I win…"

"If ya win, _what?_ " Tarta snapped, too close now. Umi could feel the hot puff of her breath and her vision was taken up by Tarta's face. Her breath caught. Shit. Abort, abort mission, this was a mistake, her mouth shouldn't have gone off and made Tarta angrier because Umi had kind of lost that aggressive spark of her own with the realization that Tarta's lips were just a breath away from her own.

"Uh." Part of Umi's brain screamed, _don't just back down now!_ "If I win…"

"Oh fer fuck's sake!" Tarta made a sound that could have been a growl, or maybe a snarl of something in another language, and leaned forward the rest of the way.

Umi had one stunned moment before competitive instinct kicked back in and she kissed back just as hard. Tarta bit her. Umi bit back a bit harder than she intended to, control lost in a giddy rush.

Tarta pulled back, still scowling but blushing down to her chest. She couldn't meet Umi's eyes. "Dammit. I wasn't going to do that."

Umi didn't let her get farther than that, pulling her back into another bruising kiss. This time when they parted, Tarta was breathing harder than Umi was. "You annoy me so much, but you also are kind of awesome and I love competing against you except I kind of also want to bite your face and have excuses to touch," Umi said in a rush.

Tarta stared at her before breaking down into laughter. Umi blushed. She didn't kick Tarta for laughing, though she kind of wanted to.

"What?" Umi growled as Tarta all but fell forward laughing into her lap. She pushed her off because she could and Tarta sputtered on the floor.

"Shit," Tarta said finally. She wiped her eyes, gasping between lingering giggles. "Do ya know how many times I got distracted lately cuz ya like practicin' in short skirts?"

"Uh…"

"And how annoyin' it is that yer hot but ya always act like a brat?"

"Hey!" Umi pointed at her imperiously. "You're the brat! And what the heck, you barely wear clothes that cover your skin so who the hell are you to talk about distracting skirts?"

Rather than get angry this time, it only sent Tarta into another round of giggles. Umi deflated. What the hell was she supposed to do with a laughing Tarta? She knew how to handle an angry one but…

"You're such a jerk," Tarta said, but she didn't sound angry. "Shoulda guessed it was a case a gay tension."

"Excuse me?" Now she was getting riled up again and aaaagh, this was too much emotional whiplash! Mrrrgh…. Umi covered her face until she had control again. "I do find you attractive, but you also piss me off."

"It's mutual." Tarta snorted and sat up. "Wanna just have sex?"

Umi went beet red and tossed her bag and any loose paper near her in Tarta's direction she could get her hands on. Tarta started laughing again.

And then they got kicked out of the library. Umi scowled the whole time and Tarta didn't stop giggling until they were on the sidewalk with their hastily packed bags between them.

"I'm so mad at you. Now I can't go in the library for the rest of the week."

Tarta rolled her eyes. "I can't either, but ya gotta admit it was pretty funny."

"Who just springs that on someone?" Umi asked, arms waving wide. But it kind of was funny in an embarrassing retrospective way. Oh my god, she'd kissed Tarta in the library. Anyone could have seen them. Had anyone seen them? Could she get more cliché? Umi nudged Tarta. Tarta nudged back, and they walked side by side prodding each other for a good fifty feet before Umi found a ticklish spot and Tarta claimed defeat.

A couple kisses shouldn't change everything, but somehow they did. Umi didn't feel towering rage at Tarta's presence, more reluctant annoyance and the same fluttery feeling that had been plaguing her around Tarta for weeks. It was weird.

It was also weird to realize that if Umi stopped and thought about it between class and fencing and running into each other and the group project, Umi saw Tarta about as often as she saw Hikaru and Fuu. She wasn't sure what to make of that.

"So…" Tarta said after a while. Their feet were carrying them toward the gym and fencing but they weren't in a hurry. "That a no to sex?"

Umi didn't bother elbowing her; there was something too nonchalant about Tarta's voice anyway. "I don't know if I want casual sex," she said.

"And if it wasn't casual?" Tarta walked with her hands and bag tucked up behind her head, for all the world at ease.

Umi almost stopped walking. "Are you asking me out?"

"Maybe." Tarta shrugged. "If ya wanted."

"We'd kill each other," Umi said, but it wasn't a no. It was probably a bad idea. Fuu would be giving her that 'I know you can be rational' face right now. …Hikaru would probably tell her to go for it.

"We're not killin' each other now, are we?"

This was an anomaly. This—fifteen minutes of walking—was the longest they'd gone getting along since they'd met. "I must be crazy," Umi muttered.

Tarta flashed her a grin. It was an annoying grin, but also a cute one. …It was going to be all mixed signals and feeling for a while wasn't it? "That a yes?"

Umi sighed. "Fine."

"Great! So after I kick yer ass, wanna go make out in my room?"

Umi bumped into Tarta making her almost trip. "Please, I'm going to beat you." She blushed. "But yeah. Sure." Another few steps. "But when we get expelled for trying to commit murder, I'm saying I told you so."

~o~O~o~

AN:

Don't be like Eagle. That is not healthy relationshipping. A lot of writing anything with Eagle has involved me going 'Eagle you shit, don't' and Eagle doing what he's going to do. The reasoning behind Eagle not contacting Lantis is discussed in a later chapter. And yeah, that was a brief sideways reference to Lantis remembering his brother's suicide. :( I thought a lot before I started the fic on how I wanted Emeraude and Zagato in this, had an idea for a scholarship sponsored by Emeraude that the girls got to go to Cephiro and everything, but when it got down to it, a lot of the character motivations for Ferio and Lantis revolve around how they react to their siblings' deaths/life choices. So that will be brought up, and it is the main source of angst in this fic. There will be fluff, there will be cracky weird-silly moments, and then there will be sad moments with characters working through grief and miscommunication too, so I hope that doesn't scare anyone away.

Now that that was said, can I just say that Umi's really fun to write? I usually write from the perspective of characters like Fuu who are more introspective. Umi's energy and emotion is really refreshing and fun. ^_^ (also, looking ahead, the chapter after this is rather short. ._. the length of these is totally arbitrary and depends on snippet length.)


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: short, silly, and cute this week_

 **Chapter 4**

 **IN WHICH…**

 **Someone has thing for whips**

"So I met Tarta's sister today." Umi said over dinner.

"She has a sister?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah. She's really nice too. Like what the heck? Complete opposite of Tarta." Umi shook her head.

"Does she fence too?" Fuu asked.

"Nah. She's more into whips." Fuu raised an eyebrow, leaving her expression to speak for her. Umi choked on a bite of pasta and turned scarlet. She flailed wildly. "Not like that! Oh my god Fuu! No! Don't go there!" Her fork clattered to her plate as she covered her face with both hands. Hikaru watched with interest, clearly not getting the implications. "Gah. My brain. Stop, I don't need to be thinking about that kind of thing."

Fuu smirked. "Tarta-san's sister isn't attractive then?"

"That's not the issue and you know it." Umi peeked between her fingers to glare at Fuu. "One of these days I'm going to figure out who you like and I'll tease you mercilessly."

"Mm hmm. You're free to try." Fuu finished off her salad. It wasn't as if she was in love with anyone. Ferio's face wavered in the back of her mind, but she ignored it. It wasn't love. That was mild attraction despite all the reasons to not get involved. She should really stop coming up with excuses to go to that coffee shop…

"Watch your back, Fuu," Umi grumbled into the remains of her dinner. "You'll fall for someone eventually. And I'll be there to laugh when your brain goes down embarrassing tracks."

Fuu just kept smiling. "So, is said sister aware that you're dating Tarta-san?"

"Yeah." Umi blushed. "It was kinda…weird…since I haven't even really talked to my parents about it yet, but she was nice. Teased Tarta about it too, and it was kind of funny watching someone else get her riled up for once."

"I'm glad," Fuu said sincerely.

"Next time she visits you should introduce her to us!" Hikaru added. "We could take her out to dinner like when my brothers visit."

"That might be a while," Umi said, "but sure."

"Although you should really introduce us to Tarta-san first." They'd been dating almost a month now and Fuu still hadn't met Tarta. Actually, Umi had been talking about her from the first day of classes when they first got on each other's nerves. It was a little odd to know so much about someone without having met them."

"I know," Umi sighed. "The problem is, Tarta has an insane schedule most of the time, and when she is free, you both aren't. I'll have to figure something out…"

"It isn't a rush, Umi-san," Fuu said. "We would just like to meet her."

"Yeah…" Umi sighed. "Oh!" She pulled out her phone. "But I have pictures!"

The spent the rest of the meal passing Umi's phone back and forth, looking at pictures of Tarta, Umi, and Tatra. If nothing else, Fuu could smile over Umi's smiles captured in those moments.

 **There is a demon rabbit**

There was something _wrong_ with the rabbit Presea kept in her office. Umi had long since zoned out on whatever Hikaru was talking about with her advisor and started having a staring contest with the fluffy monstrosity in the corner. It was almost all white except for a spot of black right in the middle of its forehead, and its eyes hadn't left Umi since they entered the room.

"Stop it," Umi hissed at it under her breath. Its ears swiveled in her direction and its nose twitched. Aaaagh. Why did it keep staring like that? Weren't rabbits timid and stuff? It hopped closer. If anything, it seemed less frightened the more she stared it down rather than more. It bumped its head against her leg. Umi yanked her leg to the side. "Shoo! Go sniff someone else!"

Again, ears swiveled up at her voice. Umi could swear the rabbit was smirking at her as it purposely stood up on its hind legs to sniff her knee. It then proceeded to flop itself onto her feet like some kind of rag doll, limbs splayed and eyes closed. …Presea probably would get mad if Umi yanked it off her feet and tossed it toward the nest in the corner.

Rabbit eyes slit open as it looked at her and closed its eyes again. Apparently she wasn't a threat. That, or it thought it was hilarious how rigidly she was sitting in the extra office chair. Why had she agreed to join Hikaru visiting her advisor?

"Oh, hey, looks like Mokona likes you Umi-chan," Hikaru said.

At some point in the last few uncomfortable minutes, she must have stopped talking.

Hikaru scratched behind Mokona's fluffy white ears and the rabbit nuzzled her hand. "He's really friendly, but I don't think I've seen him just flop on someone before."

Presea snorted. "He just loves to be the center of attention. Fluffball. No self-preservation instincts at all."

Hikaru giggled. Umi wished someone would move the damn rabbit off her feet. It was staring at her again and it was getting super creepy.

"Yeah. Nice. Hikaru don't we need to get uphill for that thing you wanted to see?" Umi asked mentally hurrying Hikaru along.

"There's still another hour until it starts, but I guess we could go find the best seats…" Hikaru picked the hell bunny up and cuddled him like it wasn't plotting Umi's murder in its eyes. The fluff-and-friendly was all an act, she was sure. "Thanks for talking Presea-san!"

"Any time, Hikaru-chan."

Hikaru left the rabbit in its corner. Umi was never happier to walk like hell away from a room before. Umi was never visiting Presea's office again. Actually, she was just going to stay out of the art building altogether if she could manage it. Nope, no bunnies giving her evil looks. Even if it was soft and fluffy.

 **An apology and proper introduction occur**

It was the fifth trip to the coffee shop that Fuu ran into the boy again. It was in the afternoon in that in between time that meant most people were doing other things than seek out food or drink. That was in part why she'd chosen the time; Escudo was a relaxing place to sit for a while when it wasn't during its busy hours.

She hadn't let the boy—Ferio, she reminded herself, Ferio—determine the time she visited. When Fuu wanted to have a cup of Escudo's excellent tea blends and one of their muffins, she'd have them. Still, when Fuu glanced through the front window and saw Ferio working the counter, she took a moment to breathe and observe. He was cleaning something, looking content enough, his hair pulled back in the same short tail that he'd worn every other time she saw him. Fuu smoothed her hands along her skirt, needlessly straightening the pleats before she entered. Ferio looked up at the jingle of the doorbell. His eyes lit up and he smiled wide enough that Fuu could see the hint of dimples in his cheeks.

"Hey, you came back," Ferio said.

"The tea is worth the walk," Fuu said, offering a smile of her own.

"I'll take your word for it. I know the coffee's worth it but it can't be to everyone's taste." He set the utensils he'd been cleaning aside. "So I can safely say you want tea…"

"Medium size," Fuu said. She glanced at the display. A bit of dessert as a reward for making it through the week wouldn't go wrong. "And a strawberry cheesecake for here."

"Medium tea and cheesecake," Ferio repeated. "The cheesecake's on the house," he added, going through the motions of getting a cup and water with the flirtatious smile that Fuu hated—but didn't hate as much as she thought she should. He froze halfway to reaching for the tap. "Shit. Uh. I didn't mean that to come out in a flirty way."

Fuu watched his face go pink and the way he aborted a gesture by filling up the cardboard cup.

"I mean," he continued, getting more flustered as he went, "I meant it in a flirty way when I offered last time, but it was also a genuine offer and I don't mean it in a flirty way this time, just. A friendly way. And if I say something cheesy about how you look in the next few minutes, don't hate me because you do look nice today. Um. Forget I opened my mouth." He held out the cup like an offering of appeasement to a potentially angry god.

Fuu took it and tried not to laugh. "So you're not flirting with me?"

"I'm. Trying not to, no."

"Well, the effort is appreciated," Fuu said.

Ferio nodded and shifted awkwardly behind the counter. "I'm sorry if it bothered you before. I'll try not to. We kind of got off on the wrong foot, so try again?" he offered. He looked at her with hope in his eyes, all nerves and awkward teenage boy instead of the irritating flirty overconfidence.

Fuu considered. "I suppose," she offered, "we never properly introduced ourselves." Her heart felt a bit too fast as she came to a decision. "I'm Fuu."

"I'm Ferio," Ferio said.

"Nice to meet you, Ferio," Fuu said. "As for the cheesecake…" She smiled. "A stranger offered me the cake, so I will have to say no. But," she added, "if sometime in the future Ferio offered, I'd consider."

Ferio blinked, blinked again before grinning at her. "Sure." He got her cake and rang up the total with its price included.

Fuu took the cake and her tea—a new black tea blend with cinnamon—to a table a little ways away and enjoyed both in the quiet of the shop over catching up on her required reading. She felt Ferio's eyes on her a few times, and each time something in her waited for something—a comment, flirting, conversation—but he let her read in peace.

When she left, the coffee shop starting to get a straggling line of patrons coming in and disturbing the quiet, she waved to Ferio. "See you around campus," Fuu said like she would with any prospective friend.

This time it was Ferio who was left staring after her with one hand in the air.

 **Ferio might have a crush. Maybe.**

Ferio wasn't sure what happened after Fuu left—Fuu, he had a name for the glasses girl now!—as he spent the rest of his shift in a daze. She'd smiled at him. Not just once, but several times! It made him choke on his tongue and words trip from his mouth without their usual flow and by the end of the work night, Ferio was more than happy to crowd into the back and join Lafarga in the repetitive, soothing task of baking.

And then she came back another day, and another and another, all while he was on shift. He's never held back from flirting before, but it was easier to do so with Fuu because she frowned if he flirted but her rare smiles made his head blank out. They'd had something like conversations now. They weren't long conversations, mostly just polite exchanges, but it was a world of difference from her earlier glares and that… Yeah, Ferio liked that a lot more than he wanted to admit.

For the second week in a row, Ferio buried himself in working cream cheese into cheesecakes and grating carrots down for carrot cake.

"You got it bad, huh?" Caldina said as she watched him work. It wasn't her usual teasing tone for once and Ferio wasn't sure what to make of the fondness in her face. His sister used to look at him like that. It was a little weird to think that somewhere along the way he might have just adopted a surrogate sister. Been adopted by. Ferio pushed the thought away, spooning cheesecake batter over graham cracker crusts.

"It's nothing serious," Ferio said. It couldn't be serious if you still didn't know anything about the other person. When you only spoke a few minutes at a time over exchanging cups for cash.

"Uh huh." Caldina took the batter from him and filled the rest of the tiny spring form pans on her own. "Hon, you aware that you stopped flirtin' with people lately?"

Ferio's hands opened and closed with the need to do something. There was nothing to do until the carrot cupcakes were out of the oven and the cheesecakes were baked; the rest of the baking was already done for the night.

Caldina looked up, the last scape of batter falling neatly into the last tiny pan. "Ya are aware right?"

"I know." Fuu's discomfort had got him thinking that maybe sometimes he shouldn't flirt. Which led him to practicing not flirting so he wouldn't flirt with her by accident. Which led to disappointing certain regulars and pleasing others. He'd settled on a happy medium; he'd give complements but only if he sincerely felt them, and not in excess. It made people happy in a different way than flirting had. He'd probably flirt with the people who had been disappointed that he stopped in the future, but he felt like he was learning a bit more about people and himself now that he was stopping and thinking about it a bit more.

Caldina pursed her lips. Ferio helped her put the pans on a tray and into the oven. "Ya shouldn't go changing yourself for someone," she said after a while.

"It's not for her," Ferio said, because while he'd stopped flirting with her because she'd asked him to, any other changes had been his own choices. Some would stay, some would go. "It just made me think."

"If ya say so. But a pretty face ain't worth anythin' if she don't like ya for who ya are."

"I know, Caldina." Ferio sighed, looked at all the dishes to do and felt a little tired. "And really, it's not serious. Just a bit of a crush. Maybe."

"Maybe," Caldina repeated, hand on her hip.

He rolled his eyes. "Fine, it is a crush. She's pretty and smart and strong willed and has a really nice smile, okay?"

"Whatcha gonna do about it?"

"Well since she doesn't like me flirting, nothing," Ferio said. He looked at his hands. "I think we could be friends. Eventually." If she'd stopped hating him like she thought she had. Occasional smiles and wishing him a good day could just be politeness and not a sign that she had stopped disliking him. The thought of calling her a friend and seeing her smile more though… "That would be pretty nice too."

Caldina pulled him into a hug. "Aw, lookit you starting to be all grown up about things."

"Caldina!" Ferio protested. He didn't try to get out of the hug though. It was kind of nice, if a little embarrassing. "…What would you do in this sort of situation?"

"Hmm…seduction?" Caldina said. Ferio sputtered and she laughed, letting him go when he flailed in her grip. "Yeah, but I kinda doubt your cutie'd be the type fer that."

"I meant to make someone stop disliking me not—!" Gah, why'd he ask Caldina for advice again?

"Well it worked on Lafarga."

"I didn't need to know that."

She laughed again and patted him on the head. "Just talk to her like ya do with yer friends or to me or Lafarga and it'll be fine."

Ferio blushed, dodged her hand, and took refuge in starting in on the dishes.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

 ** _IN WHICH…_**

 **Eagle gets sick and plots**

When Hikaru got to her biology class her usual fifteen minutes early, for the first time there was a different TA. For a minute she was so surprised she had to stare.

The new TA looked up. "…Can I help you?"

"Um." Hikaru stepped further into the room and glanced around like that would make Eagle appear. "The TA who is usually here, Eagle, is he not a TA anymore or…?

"Hmm? Oh, Eagle? He's sick today, so I'm covering for him." The substitute TA shrugged. She turned back to putting lab materials together. "He should be back later this week once he's feeling better."

"He's sick?" That wasn't good. Hikaru bit her lip. They still only talked before classes, but Eagle was nice and had helped her with homework problems she had trouble with before and always asked about how her life was going… They were friends now, and if Eagle was sick, she wanted to do something for him. "I don't suppose you have a way to get ahold of him…"

"His phone number?" The TA shook her head. "No. Even if I did I couldn't just go handing out people's numbers. But if you want to pass a message along, I think he's rooming with Geo Metro if you know him."

"Geo as in the math tutor?" Hikaru asked.

"I think he does tutoring? It's not really a common name."

Hikaru nodded, mind racing. Her math tutor was roommates with her TA friend. What a small world. Geo had open tutoring hours today, so after class maybe she could find him and ask about Eagle… Ah, but what you do when someone was sick? Bring food? Flowers? Her brothers always brought her medicine and made sure she was comfortable and made rice porridge since it was gentle on the stomach. Should she bring that? She'd never tried to cook porridge before.

The TA was gone now, and other classmates were sliding into their seats and talking quietly amongst themselves. Aaaagh, Hikaru couldn't think about this right now! Class, then find Geo, _then_ worry about bringing something for Eagle. …Or should she decide on something, then talk to Geo?

No, class first! It was going to be a long class…

*o*

"You know Eagle?" Geo asked. He sat at his usual corner library table, but this time Hikaru wasn't there for tutoring.

"He's a TA for my class." Hikaru fiddled with her bag. It was one thing knowing that Geo was Eagle's roommate, it was another actually bringing the topic up. Having two parts of her life collide like this was a little surreal. "I wanted to visit and wish him better since he's sick…"

"And you're…friends?" Geo asked, like it was a strange concept.

"I always get to the room really early so we talk. He's nice."

"Nice. Right." Geo laughed a little. "Well I guess he can be when he wants to. I can give you the address, but he's pretty out of it, so he might not be the best for guests right now."

Hikaru felt a stab of worry. "Is he really sick then? A cold or the flu or…?"

"It shouldn't be contagious, just something reoccurring that pops up sometimes."

"Oh." That didn't sound any better. At least with a cold you could get over it. Now Hikaru wanted to do something even more. "Is there anything that he likes, any food or…?"

"A sick gift?" Geo scrubbed the back of his head. "He's going to get a swelled head over a pretty girl bringing him a gift," he muttered. "Ah, Eagle's always stealing my chocolate, so I know he likes chocolate at least."

"Chocolate." Okay, Hikaru could do chocolate. Well, she wasn't going to hand make chocolates; that was more Umi's area of expertise. But she could buy some chocolate easily enough. She smiled. "Thanks, Geo."

"Nah, thank you. It'll probably put him in a good mood. He can be an awful patient to look after when he's sick." Geo waved her off with a smile. "Someone should be at the apartment with Eagle, so just go ahead and knock when you get there. See you later this week for your tutoring?"

"Yeah, I'll be there!" Hikaru grinned and left on a mission. Where to find good chocolate?

*o*

In the end, she'd roped Umi into the chocolate hunt and ended up in town and burdened down with a box of chocolates, three carefully chosen daffodils, and a cheap puzzle book because Umi thought it might help fight boredom if Eagle was bedridden. It was all a bit overwhelming and more than she'd planned. Still, Hikaru found herself outside Eagle's apartment gathering up the will to ring the bell. It wasn't too much for a friend, was it? And Umi'd said that daffodils meant respect and Hikaru did respect Eagle, only what if he didn't even like flowers?

She could have second thoughts all day, or she could ring the doorbell and visit like a good friend should. Hikaru took a steadying breath and pressed the bell. She almost dropped everything in her hands when the door opened. This was the second time parts of her life had collided today.

"Lantis?"

"Hikaru?" Lantis blinked down at her, surprised. He had on an apron and it felt weird compared to seeing him in his training clothes. It looked domestic, something Hikaru hadn't associated with him before. "What are you doing here?"

"Eagle. I, um." Hikaru thrust her gifts forward. "I heard Eagle was sick so I came to let him know I hope he gets better soon!"

"You know him?" Then Lantis shook his head. "…Of course you do or you wouldn't be here. Please, come in."

"Do you live here too?" Hikaru asked, following him inside. She slid off her shoes in an obsessively neat entryway. Everything was lined up perfectly and she felt compelled to line her shoes up with them.

"No." Lantis offered her the only other pair of guest slippers. "Eagle is an old friend. I'm here helping take care of him until his roommates are back." There was the smell of rice and something savory coming from the kitchen. Lantis bypassed it for the moment, leading Hikaru to one of the bedrooms. "Eagle, you have a guest."

"Do I now?" Eagle's room was just as minimalistic and organized as the rest of the apartment so far, though there was a picture frame on his desk and what looked like a robot stored next to it. Eagle himself was in a Western style bed with pillows propping his torso upright. He looked exhausted and paler than normal, but okay other than that.

Hikaru hesitated on the threshold of the room for only a second before entering. Eagle's eyes went round when he saw her. It was the first time Hikaru had seen him look surprised by anything.

"Hikaru." His surprise smoothed into a warm smile. "It's good to see you, though it's unexpected."

"I asked Geo if I could visit…he's my math tutor and, uh." Hikaru held out her gifts. "Here. I wasn't sure what you would like, but the flowers could brighten the room and you might get bored and most people like chocolate so…"

"You didn't need to go to so much trouble," Eagle said.

"I wanted to."

He took them from her. Lantis watched from the doorway. When Eagle glanced at him, Lantis moved toward the kitchen. "I'll get a cup for the flowers."

"Ah! I should have thought to get a vase…" Hikaru frowned. Most people didn't have a vase on hand.

"It's no trouble," Eagle said chuckling. "They're just as nice in a cup as they would be in a vase. Thank you for the thoughtful gifts."

"I'm glad." Hikaru sighed in relief. There was a chair near Eagle's bed, so she took the chance to sit in it as Eagle admired the flowers. "I've never really visited anyone when they're sick, or looked after someone."

"No siblings to look after then," Eagle said.

"Mm-mm, I have three older brothers. Usually I'm the one getting sick and then they're looking after me." Hikaru's foot swung, not quite touching the floor when she sat all the way back in the chair. "It's mostly just the four of us at home. My oldest brother's always been kind of like a mom to us, always making sure we're eating right and checking on us if we got sick… He always makes something easy on the stomach when someone gets sick, but I wouldn't even know where to start."

"This is more than enough," Eagle said. He reached out and patted Hikaru's arm. "And I already have Lantis playing the excellent nursemaid."

Lantis snorted, plucking the flowers from Eagle to put them in water. "The only reason I rank as a nursemaid is because you're hopeless at caring for yourself."

"I think I've managed alright."

"You've managed because Geo is a mother hen and keeps you functioning. I remember having to drag you to get food or sleep because you got too caught up in your work." Lantis plopped the cup on the bedside table. It made for a sorry bouquet with only three flowers in such a wide glass, but they were still a cheerful bright yellow in a room dominated by gray and white and faded green.

"Hmm, he does like to worry. And he seems to have sent two nursemaids on me." Eagle glanced at Hikaru in good humor, like he was inviting her to share in a joke. She wasn't sure if there was a joke though; Eagle did look like he wouldn't be doing anything on his own for a while.

Still, it was nice of him to try and include her. There was familiarity between Lantis and Eagle that could make her feel out of place if she thought about it too much. "You two are pretty close then, huh?"

"Very close," Eagle said and something in his tone made her wonder if there was another joke that she was missing. "We studied together before we transferred here. But how did you meet Lantis, Hikaru?"

"At the gym." Hikaru brightened. "We meet up at least once a week to spar."

"You fence?"

"Kendo. My dad has a dojo. My oldest brother's going to be taking over some of the classes once he gets married this fall." Hikaru smiled at Lantis. "But I've really been enjoying our sparring days. I'm glad you agreed to come back after that first time."

Lantis sighed. "I still feel bad about that."

Eagle propped his chin on a hand. "Hmm, let me guess, that first time was why she had that big bruise for a week. You brute."

Lantis pursed his lips, ignoring Eagle's teasing.

"It was an accident and it's all fine now!" Hikaru said. "It's really fun actually. I don't get many chances to spar with people from different style backgrounds."

"Hmm, maybe I'll have to get back in practice and spar sometime as well," Eagle said.

"You use a sword too?" She tried to picture it, but she couldn't imagine what sort of style would fit him.

"Not as well as Lantis, but I do enjoy it."

"Focus on getting better before you go off and promise to spar with someone who's kept in practice," Lantis said.

"Yes, yes, Mr. Nurse."

Lantis left and came back with soup for Eagle.

*o*

Eagle sipped at Lantis's soup, barely noticing the broth's flavor, which was a pity because he was sure Lantis had put effort into it. Still, he couldn't help watching Hikaru and Lantis interact over their own bowls of soup. He hadn't seen this coming. The chances of Hikaru knowing Lantis were actually fairly high since Cephiro was so small, so that wasn't too much of a surprise really. It was the way Lantis looked at her that caught him off guard. Eagle knew what Lantis having a crush looked like. And Lantis definitely had a crush on Shidou Hikaru.

Not that Eagle could blame him. It was hard not to like Hikaru. She was bright and kind and full of optimism that drew in people like him and Lantis like moths to flame. Eagle couldn't get a read on Hikaru though. She clearly admired Lantis, but whether or not it was platonic was hard to tell.

When he'd mentioned the possibility that Lantis had moved on, Eagle hadn't really thought he would.

On the other hand, Lantis had taken the time to make Eagle soup and spend his day off next to Eagle's sick bed. That was still more of a boyfriend thing than a friend thing, so maybe they were both still trying to figure out where they stood with each other. And now Hikaru was in the middle of it…

"Is the soup not to your liking?" Lantis asked.

Eagle blinked, realizing he'd stopped eating. "It's delicious. I was just thinking."

"…Thinking what?" Lantis asked warily.

"Nothing much," Eagle said with a smile he knew would have Lantis feeling paranoid. Regardless of where their relationship stood, it had always been fun to ruffle him a bit. Lantis tended to get too serious otherwise. And it was a nice distraction from his physical state, which was always a plus. "I'm lucky to have such nice friends," he added after a moment.

It was satisfying to see Hikaru get flustered. And a flustered Hikaru got him a quietly flustered Lantis. Hmm. If Hikaru was interested in Lantis…or maybe even if Eagle could test the waters and see if she was interested in him… There was the framework for possibility there. It would need a bit more thought and preparation of course, but Eagle thought it could work out. He'd just have to poke around and see what the best outcome was. If he was lucky, they could all end up happier.

Eagle smiled to himself, ate his soup, and let his friends draw him into their conversation.

 **Ferio has a nice smile.**

It wasn't that Fuu liked him exactly. She couldn't call Ferio a friend, or really much more than an acquaintance she happened to meet more frequently the more often she went to Escudo… Which was a lot more often than she needed to be going since she could have a perfectly nice cup of tea in her room with one of Umi's latest baking experiments instead. She couldn't deny that there was something that made her seek him out, certainly, but she didn't like him.

Ferio was still a little over confident, a bit too casual toward her considering they didn't know much about each other. He'd mostly stopped his flirting (and she was a little ashamed to realize that she missed it a tiny bit, but that was her ego speaking, not her logical side) and Ferio wasn't a bad conversationalist. Still…still Fuu couldn't let go of that initial irritation that he'd stirred in her. She was looking for reasons to feel it lately because it was slipping away, and a part of her couldn't help but worry what would change if she let it vanish.

Ferio welcomed her to Escudo with a sincere smile. Fuu didn't like his flirtatious smile, but this smile… Fuu made her order quick. She focused on how Ferio's smile was the flirtatious one for the person after her because it was simpler than thinking about the smile he'd sent her way.

 **Alcyone is a Problem**

It had taken a while to get Fuu to cough up where she'd been getting the pastries that kept appearing in their room, but Umi'd gotten a name and a place, and now she was going to get something for herself this time. And maybe talk to whoever made the cheesecakes Fuu had brought back last time because Umi had to know how they got them so creamy; hers never turned out that nice. Escudo, as it turned out, wasn't a pastry shop like Umi'd been expecting—like really, what were they doing as a coffee shop with baked goods that awesome? It should be against the rules or something. It was an unremarkable place from the outside, mismatched on the inside, and kind of oddly laid out with interconnecting rooms that led back deeper into the building. It was a lot bigger inside than she had expected from the outside.

What she took in first though, was the rich scent of coffee and the undertone of vanilla, butter and sugar from something that undoubtedly had far too many calories. It smelled like heaven.

It was only after standing in the doorway just breathing it all in for a minute that she noticed the counter—or more specifically who was at the counter. The woman, Alcyone, from the bakery Umi had gotten an interview about from class. She looked about how Umi remembered her, in nice, pristine clothing and not a hair out of place. Her expression couldn't be further from the polite smile she'd given back then though. Her red-painted lips were pulled into a sneer as she snapped out an order.

"Two shots espresso, frothed skim milk, caramel syrup, no additional sugar, and a dash of cinnamon," the unfortunate person behind the counter repeated back with a flat, professional smile in place. Umi did a double take. It was the guy who'd been at Alcyone's shop when Umi interviewed her, the one that had been rude and looked like a bum. He didn't look like a bum now, though it was hard not to look a bit punkish with the ear piercings, ponytail, and scar across his face. He was dressed as professionally as his smile, neat apron and folded back sleeves of a button down shirt.

Umi got out of the doorway and leaned against a table to watch the interaction now that the tables were turned.

The guy behind the counter went through the motions of filling up the cup with practiced ease. Alcyone's sneer got deeper as he worked, lacquered nails tapping her arm as she waited. He slid the cup over. "Anything else you'd like with that?" he asked.

"A chocolate cupcake." She pointed at one in the back of the case. "The one with the white sprinkles." While he got it, she sipped her drink. How she wasn't melting the lipstick off along with her taste buds, Umi didn't know. When he sat the cupcake on the counter, she tasted that too, still without paying.

"Will that be all?" the boy asked. His smile was starting to look strained.

Alcyone sniffed. "Tell Lafarga his quality's slipping. This is a sorry excuse for a buttercream frosting, and it was frosted too soon if how it's melted at the edges is any sign. I suppose I should expect second rate appearance from a tacky shop like this."

The shop was a little eclectic, but Umi wouldn't call it _tacky_. It would probably look better with a more unified decorating scheme, but…

"And the coffee is horrible. Did you reuse grounds?"

"Freshly ground and brewed," the boy said, smile still in place. "I'll pass along your message to Lafarga. If that's all, your costs come to five dollars and fifty cents."

Alcyone scoffed and tossed down a ten dollar bill. "Keep the change. Maybe if you save it up you'll eventually be able to afford an interior decorator to make this place less of an eyesore." She left the coffee on the counter as she swept away, brushing past Umi as she went. Her bag must have hit the cup when she turned because when Umi looked back, the barista was swearing under his breath and shoving towels onto the counter to keep the mess from spreading.

Umi let out a long breath. Wow, did it look like there was bad blood between the two of them. Comparatively, the guy behind the counter had been practically a polite customer back then.

"I think if looks could kill you'd be bleeding out right now," Umi said approaching the counter.

"Ha ha," the boy grumbled. He tossed the wet towels into a sink and wiped one more time with a new one to clean the last of the coffee off.

Umi pursed her lips. "Y'know I'm not sure if it's karma or not. I mean it all depends on who started poking at each other with pointy sticks first."

He glanced up at her and blinked a second before recognition kicked in. "Oh, hey, you're the cookie girl who was with Glasses a while back. Fuu send you here or did you wander in by mistake?"

Fuu, huh? Since when did Fuu get on first name basis with the cute-scruffy-apparently a barista guy? …Whose name was Ferio, apparently, if he was wearing the right name tag. Then again, Fuu'd been bringing back a lot of sweets lately. Heheheh. Umi would totally have to tease her about this later. It was probably nothing since Fuu didn't seem to look twice at anyone, but it would make up for the times Fuu teased her at least.

"Yo," Umi said with a cheerful wave. "You don't look like a bum today."

"Ouch. What a backhanded compliment." He smiled though, and it wasn't the strained polite mask he'd used on Alcyone. "I like to think that I was dressed like any college student would dress on their free time."

"Well yeah, but most people don't wear their pajamas in public." Umi rested an elbow on the counter. "So, my friend keeps bringing back sweets from here and they've all been awesome. Any chance of getting a recipe for, say, that cheesecake you sell?"

Ferio snorted. "Not likely. Lafarga likes to keep his recipes in house, but I can pass that on if you'd like."

"Thanks." It was worth a shot. "So, what would you recommend from the display today?"

"If you like sweet, try the white cake. Buuut," he pointed at the refrigerated display, "personal favorite? Lafarga's tiramisu. We use espresso made here. We have it maybe once or twice a month though, so it's not something you get often."

"Ooh." Tasty. And Umi always enjoyed coffee and chocolate desserts. "A slice of that for sure. And to take back…" What would Fuu and Hikaru like? Ironically enough, Umi wasn't sure what sort of thing Fuu got here since whenever she brought things back, she brought them for Hikaru and Umi, not herself. "Fuu likes when I make cookies," she muttered to herself.

"If you're taking something back to Fuu, she seems to like the lemon and fruit stuff more than anything super sweet," Ferio said.

He even knew Fuu's preferences. Yeah, Umi was definitely teasing the heck out of her later. Umi added a chocolate cupcake like the one Alcyone had gotten to the mix for Hikaru, and added on a lemon shortbread cookie dessert with something creamy sandwiched between the two cookies.

"So does stuff like earlier happen often?" Umi asked as Ferio rung her up.

"You mean Alcyone? From time to time. It's kind of back and forth seeing what's up with the competition, but she's full of herself and she hates me, so…" Ferio shrugged.

"Doesn't it just make it worse if you keep going back?" Umi handed over what she owed and took the bag of sweets in return.

"Probably." He handed back her change. "But gotta keep track of what's selling in the area, and at least I don't waste a perfectly good cup of coffee."

"If she's like that every time you interact, you're maybe not as much of a jerk as I originally thought," Umi said.

"Ow. Do you have to keep saying things like that?" Ferio winced and rubbed the back of his neck.

Umi laughed. "It's a good thing!"

"Yeah, yeah, sure it is." He paused and glanced behind him at something and said, "Could you wait a sec?"

"Sure?" Ferio ducked into the back of the building toward what was probably kitchens. He hadn't flirted with her once, Umi realized. He'd seemed like a total jerky flirt back then, but maybe because he was at work? Or maybe he had only been flirting with Fuu back then and Umi really wasn't his type. To be annoyed that the hot guy didn't find her attractive or to be amused that it marked one more thing to tease Fuu about? Amused, Umi decided as Ferio returned with a sealed cup.

"Here, could you take this for Fuu? Lantis has a new tea blend he's experimenting with. He's liked the feedback she'd had with his other blends so…"

Umi took the cup. "Let me guess, you just so happened to write your number on the cup?"

Ferio blushed. "I. No?" Umi swallowed laughter. Holy shit, even if Fuu wasn't interested, Ferio was totally interested in Fuu. This was great. And if Fuu did like Ferio… Well, maybe Umi could play matchmaker. "She doesn't seem to like people flirting with her, and that'd probably be crossing a line or someth—"

"Hey," Umi cut him off. "Do you want her to have your number?"

Ferio gave her a nervous look that really wasn't refusal.

Umi pulled out the pocket notebook she'd taken to keeping in her purse. "Here. Write it down and I'll see if she sounds like she wants to know it."

Ferio stared at the notebook for a beat before taking it from her. "Okay. Okay, I can do that."

Umi didn't think Fuu would turn down that phone number. She was definitely getting the full story out of Fuu on how she ended up on first name basis with Escudo's barista though.

 **Lantis is good with children**

Hikaru was through with classes for the day and for once there was no homework, just freedom to do whatever she pleased. She was filled with a wild, restless energy to do something, have an adventure or go change into her gear and practice kendo until her muscles ached with the satisfying burn of a good workout. Or maybe she would go see if Fuu or Umi were free—only no, they had classes right now, or they would soon. Sometimes Hikaru's schedule didn't synch up well with her roommates. They made up for it whenever they did have the time though.

She stopped halfway across the commons. There were always other friends to visit, or Presea and Mokona, or see if Eagle was in or—or there was Lantis across the way leaving the social sciences building.

Hikaru bounded over to him. "Lantis!" She waved. He blinked, surprised, and gave a little wave back. "Hi! I didn't know you had a class here around this time."

"I don't," Lantis said. He was still walking, keeping his pace slow for her to keep up with, but he looked happy to see her. That made Hikaru's smile brighter. "I had a meeting with a faculty advisor."

"Oh, ok." She almost wanted him to walk at his normal pace so she could burn some of the energy keeping up with him. She bounced a bit, foot to foot. "Hey, do you have time to spar today? I know we usually go a different day but…"

"Not at the moment," Lantis said. "I have something to do right now, but I have a free hour later."

Disappointment was quickly followed by happy reassurance that sparring was potentially in the near future. "I'm free the rest of the evening so whenever you have time works. What do you have to do now?" she asked as they headed away from educational buildings and toward administrative buildings.

"Volunteer work," Lantis explained.

"Volunteer work?" Didn't Lantis already have a job on top of his studies? When did he find time to do anything?

"With the campus daycare. People who plan on working with children can get shifts to help look after the children and gain practical experience."

That sounded useful. And kind of fun actually. Hikaru didn't get much of a chance to be around little kids, but she'd enjoyed the few times she was able to. "Can I come with you?"

Lantis glanced down at her. "You would have to get permission from your advisor to work there."

"Okay," Hikaru said. She could talk to Presea about it some other time. "But can I still go with you today?"

"…I suppose no one would mind if you went there to observe," Lantis said after a moment. "To see if you would be interested in working there."

"Great!" Hikaru grinned and walked with a bit more bounce in her steps. She would get to spar with Lantis later, and they could spend more time together, and she'd get to see kids even if she was probably not going to be allowed to play with them.

In the end, Lantis was right that she didn't get to help look after the children, but she was allowed to sit to the side and join in on coloring time, so that was fun. Hikaru found herself watching Lantis more than observing the kids though. He was _good_ with children and they all seemed to like him, especially one little girl that kept shooting Hikaru evil looks for some reason. The other caretaker on duty had laughed and whispered to Hikaru that Primera was just jealous that Lantis had come with someone. But Primera forgot about being annoyed at Hikaru pretty quickly once Lantis brought out snacks and a book for story time. Hikaru found herself smiling and just as caught up as the kids as he read, and all her wild energy calmed to contentment.

All in all, it was a nice afternoon.

0*0*0*0

AN: Did I make Primera a 3 year old? Yes. Yes I did. :P I hate to say it, but I found her kind of annoying in the anime. So I made her the age she acts. Lantis has infinite patience. (Also I really liked his interactions with Mira and how he looked relaxed around kids. It's cute ok?)

Eagle's sickness: ok, I know I was researching for something that it could be at one point and had a few concepts, but then apparently I never write them down. I know that some form of caner had been on the list along with a few other things, but blah, I haven't the foggiest what by this point (I started this in April, it's been a while). I can say that he's been left with a bit of a compromised immune system and catches things easily, plus he's anemic at times and gets fevers at the drop of a hat, so the second he slips in taking care of himself, he often gets sick. It can be for a few days or it can be longer. His illness is also what kept him from seeking out Lantis in their year apart. (He was diagnosed not long after Lantis left, and there had been a small chance that he'd live. Thankfully he beat the odds.) Truly I wanted something analogous to how he was sick in the manga/anime (more manga than anime I suppose) but with the slightly happier concept of him having already gotten better rather than ACTIVELY DYING. I wanted this to be mostly a fluff story and any way you look at it, sick/dying Eagle has no place in this happily ever after for this trio. ( So Eagle will LIVE like he SHOULD HAVE and only suffer fairly mild health setbacks.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

 _AN: Warning that this chapter contains mention of past suicide and character death. Ok? Ok. Sorry, this chapter is mostly angst. But to be fair, this is the largest amount of angst to be found in the story in total pretty much all in one spot._

 **IN WHICH…**

 **Ferio has an uncomfortable conversation**

They didn't talk about it, not when they first started working together, or the first time they ran into each other on campus. They certainly didn't talk about it after the funerals. Between Ferio and Lantis was a working relationship which involved no prying into each other's lives, no unnecessary interactions, and distant politeness. Ferio wouldn't say they disliked each other, it was just how they'd reacted to grief. It was simpler not to bring it up than to acknowledge the common point between them.

Ferio had never wanted to push the boundaries to see where Lantis stood in all of this even though he had vague memories of Lantis being Emeraude's friend as much as Zagato had been before the whole love affair thing. Asking something like that was too personal. Asking would require dwelling on aches that he tried his best to ignore.

Somehow Ferio had never expected Lantis to be the one to bring the topic up. Maybe because he hadn't in the year they'd worked together. Mostly he'd assumed Lantis felt the same way he did. He must not have though, or Lantis would never have brought the topic up.

"I transferred to Autozam for their robotics program," Lantis said out of nowhere one night. It was late, past midnight in the back of Escudo's kitchen because Lafarga didn't mind them studying there after hours so long as all the prep work for the next day was done. There was a whole table between them because they never pretended to be more than two people who happened to share the same study space and work the same job. Ferio put down his textbook. "I wanted to be part of something bigger than Cephiro and make my way somewhere that my brother hadn't already left a reputation to be compared to. I didn't plan to end up here again. Nor the switch in majors."

Ferio listened without response. Was Lantis looking for a reaction?

"Zagato told me not to visit in my senior year. Before that, I didn't realize anything had gone wrong."

And Lantis's response to being told to stay away had been to transfer back to Cephiro of course. Ferio didn't blame him; he'd have done the same if Emeraude had suddenly told him to leave her alone. She hadn't though, there had just been more and more arguments with their parents and a dwindling number of smiles. He'd known it was bad, but he'd expected her to elope not— Ferio didn't want to think about this.

Lantis studied him across the table. Ferio tried to relax his shoulders and failed.

"I am sorry I wasn't able to help," Lantis said.

Ferio let out an explosive breath that would have been a laugh if he weren't so tense. "What the heck are you sorry for? You couldn't have done anything to stop it. No one could have not even—" Not Ferio, not Emeraude's friends, not her advisor, Clef…not even Zagato had been able to stop her. "Nothing could have changed her mind by that point," Ferio said a bit firmer. He'd only gone to a couple grief counseling sessions, hating the overall feel of that sort of thing, but he'd taken that away from them. Even if some days he didn't always believe it.

Besides, what did Lantis have to apologize for? Ferio had been there the whole time, was family, and that hadn't made a shred of difference. And unlike Lantis, at least Ferio hadn't been the one to find the bodies.

"I remind you of it though, don't I?"

"Well, yeah, you look and sound a lot like your brother…" Ferio scrubbed at the back of his hair. "Look, I was never angry at you or anything. I just. I don't like to think about it okay? And I don't like talking about it either. It's easier." He scowled. "And don't you dare think that it makes me care less or—"

"I wouldn't. Of course you loved your sister." Lantis looked mildly concerned, more emotion on his face at the moment than he usually showed in a week. "Who would believe otherwise?" He narrowed his eyes and Ferio had to look away. "Your parents, I assume."

"Look, can we just go back to not talking about things? Because I really don't want to talk about things."

Ferio's shoulders hunched higher as Lantis studied him. "If that's what you'd prefer," he said finally. "I apologize for making you uncomfortable; I wanted to be sure that the past wasn't a problem. I waited for you to bring it up first but…"

"It's not," Ferio said, all but cutting off Lantis's sentence.

"I'm glad." Lantis turned back to his books, topic closed, conversation apparently over. The most they'd spoken in one go and it had to be about that.

Ferio picked his text book back up but the sentences left his head as soon as his eyes read them. He creased and smoothed the corner of a page, not really seeing much of what was in front of him. He wasn't going to get anything else done tonight, was he. Ferio shut his book and started packing his things up.

"Going to go to the library," he said. "Just remembered a paper I need to research." Said paper wasn't due for two weeks but Lantis didn't need to know that. The library was open to three in the morning. If Ferio was lucky, the walk there would clear his head and calm him down.

 **Fuu has a healthier outlook**

Fuu was out far later than planned. She'd meant to just do a couple hours of studying in the library after dinner, but a couple hours had come and gone a long time ago. If Umi hadn't texted to ask if she was okay, Fuu probably would have been lost reading articles until the library closed. She sighed, making her way down the steps toward the entrance. It was a good thing her first class was late tomorrow rather than one of her early morning ones.

Fuu was almost in the lobby when she caught sight of a familiar face pacing near the reference shelves. "Ferio?" she murmured to herself. She still rarely saw him on campus despite his protests that he was a full time student just like she was. For once he didn't look confident and in control. Instead, he looked like he was on the edge of a breakdown. Fuu's steps slowed. It didn't feel right to keep walking.

Truly, she wasn't quite sure where things stood between them. Her first impressions of Ferio were giving way to new ones the more she saw of him, and Fuu couldn't deny her attraction any longer, but that didn't make them friends. Then there was the phone number Umi had passed along that Fuu still hadn't decided what to do with… Still, no one else was around so Fuu supposed she'd treat Ferio like she would any other friend. There was a vending machine around the corner…

Fuu made her purchase and caught Ferio as he paused to actually pull a book from the reference shelves. "Good evening," Fuu said, trying to approach from a line of sight. Ferio still jumped, almost dropping the book he was holding.

"What? Oh. Hey." A shadow of his usual smile crossed his face, but fell back into a frown a second later like he didn't have the energy to even try. "It's awful late for you to be out here."

"I could say the same for you," Fuu said, meeting his attempt at banter with her usual tone. It didn't seem to help though. Ferio looked at the book in his hands without seeming to see it. Fuu pulled out the drink she'd bought from the vending machine. "Here."

"Hot chocolate?" Ferio took the can from her, unthinkingly cupping his hands around the warmth, the book set aside. "Why…?"

"You look like you need it." He kept looking at the can like it was a puzzle piece that didn't fit. "Are you alright?" Fuu asked. "You seem upset."

"I'm fine," he said, then, "okay, not fine, not fine at all, but it's not something you can help with."

Even saying that much seemed to calm him a bit. After months of living with Umi, Fuu was more than aware of how much good a listening ear could do even if she couldn't directly help a problem. "Are you sure? If you would like to talk, I can stay here for a while."

"You know, I kind of got the impression that you still don't like me much," Ferio muttered.

"I don't dislike you," Fuu said. "I didn't like your posturing. I think I might like who's under that though." She nodded to an empty table. "Sit for a moment?"

Ferio sat. He opened the hot chocolate and sipped it, feet still shifting restlessly as Fuu waited. He set the hot chocolate down when it was halfway gone. "It's kind of silly to get upset over a conversation, isn't it? It's just…a coworker brought up some things I try not to think about. I thought he didn't bring it up all this time because he didn't want to think about it either. Guess he was just hoping I'd bring it up first."

Ferio looked both younger and older than normal at the moment. Younger because he looked vulnerable, older as he seemed to stare into some memory that was too heavy for his age. Fuu listened without interruption.

"I guess I've misunderstood him this whole time… But more than that, he made me think about some things I didn't want to." Ferio sighed and took another sip of warm chocolate. "What's the most important thing in your life?" he asked suddenly. "The thing most important to you?"

While there was no logic connecting the trails of thought that she could see, Fuu thought for a moment and gave an honest answer. "The most important thing in my life is myself." She almost smiled at the surprise on Ferio's face. "I could say my dreams and goals, or my family, but if I'm going to reach those goals I have to take care of myself. And because my friends and family love me, I need to keep myself happy and healthy for their sake as well as my own."

"That's…that's good. I wish she'd been more— Yeah, it's good that you value yourself." Ferio finished the hot chocolate. What had he started to say? 'She' who? "Putting everyone else first instead of your own wants and needs isn't healthy so… yeah."

"What do you value?" Fuu asked.

"I don't know," Ferio said. "Being self-sufficient?" He shook his head. "But what about people you care about? Would you put yourself over them?"

This was a rather deep conversation for after midnight with an acquaintance. Still, it felt like one she should take seriously, so Fuu chose her words carefully. "I think," she said, "that it would depend on the people and depend on the situation. I would do anything to help my parents or my older sister, but I know that I would do my best to find ways to help that wouldn't hurt myself in the process. It doesn't help in the long run if I were to wear myself down trying to help because if that failed then we would both need assistance. But," she deliberated, words feeling heavy in her mouth, "there are always exceptions and I can't say what I would do if my family of friends were in a life or death situation. I can't see myself turning away if there is the slightest chance I could save them either, even if I might end up hurt."

"But you wouldn't throw your life away."

"Of course not." Fuu sat up straight, hands clasped in her lap. "There's far too many reasons to live to do that."

Ferio looked at her for a long moment before grinning and laughing tiredly. "Of course not." He shook his head, still smiling. "You're an amazing person you know that?"

"Pardon?"

"My sister died a little over a year ago." He turned the empty hot chocolate can around in his hands, over and over. "Suicide. She was always someone that tried to make everyone else happy; my parents, her friends, her lover. She put duty first for so long and others wants before her own for so long I guess she couldn't handle having something that she didn't want to give up because people told her she'd have to…" His hands stilled. He still had a smile on his face and Fuu had the urge to reach out and touch him, say something, but she didn't know what someone could say to something like that that wouldn't come across trivializing. "I wish she'd been a little less worried about everyone else and a little more willing to follow her heart. The irony of it all is that dying was the most selfish act she'd ever done." Ferio looked at her. "I'm glad you're someone who wouldn't throw your life away. Don't ever lose that."

There wasn't a situation Fuu could picture where she'd die at her own hands, and it was something she hoped she would never understand. It was all too heavy to not respond to, but the only thing Fuu could think to do was rest her hand on Ferio's and say, "Thank you for trusting me with that."

He smiled again, a warmer, lighter smile closer to the ones she'd seen on his face before. "It would be hard not to trust you. You're the one being a good person, checking on someone who's upset. Thanks. For the drink and a friendly ear."

"You're welcome," Fuu said. She half expected him to try and break the heavy atmosphere with yet another flirtation, but he didn't. She was glad. "It's getting late…"

"Yeah." If he'd come to the library to study, there wouldn't be much time left for that. Despite the late hour, Fuu found herself reluctant to leave. Ferio still looked vulnerable and tired.

"…You are working tomorrow, correct?"

"Two to ten, like usual."

"I will see you tomorrow then," Fuu offered. They couldn't stay in the library and they both needed to get rest, and she still didn't know Ferio well, but this could be the start of knowing him better.

"Yeah?" Ferio said, perking up. His smile grew. "I guess I'll see you then."

Fuu nodded at him with a small smile of her own. "Goodnight, Ferio. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day."

She left him with his hands still clutching the empty cocoa can, the memory of him calling her amazing lingering in the back of her mind juxtaposed with what he had lost.

 **Ascot has a crush**

It figured that he'd end up in a dysfunctional group project. Not that this was a surprise; Ascot looked back on each and every group project he'd ever done as a mess. Either his partners had him do all the work, or no one would agree on a topic until last minute and they were forced to scramble to complete anything. This time it looked like he had been paired up with two people who hated each other and he really hadn't wanted to put up with that shit. _That_ issue seemed to have been more or less resolved (Ascot supposed dating was a resolution), but now he found that there was a new problem.

He was the problem.

It would be so much easier if he could just…go back to being annoyed at Tarta and Umi. Because while he was annoyed at them, he hadn't noticed Umi's pretty, long hair, or how she didn't treat him like a kid the way a lot of other university students did, or the way she smiled when he made a good suggestion for their group project. He didn't feel like his face was burning, or that his heart beat too fast, or that he really really wanted to know if her hair was as silky as it looked. If this was what crushes were like, Ascot wondered why the hell anyone wanted to experience them because it was awful. He kept second guessing what was and wasn't a platonic interaction and was overly aware of proximity, and found himself staring into space at random times or fixated on her when she was around. How did people function feeling like this? It was a mess.

That didn't stop the giddy anticipation in the days (hours, minutes) before a group meeting or Professor Clef's class. That didn't stop how a smile from her could make him feel amazing for hours.

It was all a moot point though because Umi was dating Tarta, not Ascot, and for all that she didn't treat him like a child, she clearly didn't see him as a man either.

Ascot smiled and met all the cues that he had to meet, said what he needed to say for the project because he was good at that kind of multitasking. He kept in control of all the million little impulses that would have given him away and did his best to get on with life.

He was pretty sure Tarta knew. He was pretty sure Umi did not know though, so that was all that really mattered.

Maybe. Maybe one day when he was older, and Umi could see him as more than just a group project member… Maybe there would be a chance of…something. But maybe there wouldn't and Ascot couldn't really put his faith in maybes.

He made his way to Escudo after yet another day of his emotions being a mess. It was Ferio at the counter, and Ferio who got Caldina without a word. Caldina didn't make him talk about it this time either, and while Ascot knew she would eventually, he was glad to accept her hug and not think for a little longer. Hopefully by the time it all came out, he'd have learned to live with liking a girl that didn't like him back.

 **Fuu practices archery**

The pull of the bow was a familiar stain on muscles in her back. Pull. Hold. Breathe. Breathe. Release. An arrow thunked into the target, close to the bull's-eye. Repeat. Repeat. Archery was less a battle and more a meditation. Fuu did not have the adrenaline rush and release of endorphins that Hikaru and Umi loved with their respective forms of fencing. Fuu had a quiet, still place she reached inside her instead, where all the world focused into the point of her arrow and the draw of her bow. Release— _thunk_.

There were no lies in the clarity of the bow. Distractions were acknowledged, examined, and set aside.

Fact, Fuu was attracted to Ferio. She admitted it. She admitted that beneath the irritation, his flirting had caught her up from the start. The irritation had lied in the flirtations not being sincere or exclusive more than in that the flirtations were present at all. An admission of some smothered amount of pride and vanity existed in there, things she acknowledged and accepted as part of herself. Release— _thunk._

Fact, Ferio was not the shallow person he first appeared. Few people were who they appeared in first impressions. He worked full time and went to school at the same time. He could respect boundaries when they were laid out to him and remained friendly despite being repeatedly turned away or rejected. His smile covered over personal loss and insecurities. He did not try to save face when Fuu found him vulnerable. The person she was glimpsing more and more was a person she could like and respect. A person she _did_ like and respect. Release— _thunk_.

Fact, Fuu wanted to know Ferio better. The glimpses were not enough. Her curiosity had been raised, her concern triggered by seeing him vulnerable. She was no longer impartial toward him. She never had been though, so perhaps it was better to view it as no longer biased. This desire to know more was not a problem; Ferio seemed open to the possibility of friendship. The problem came with it being paired with attraction. Was Fuu interested in dating at this time? If so, should she act on those feelings? Pull.

The strain of holding the bow filled her shoulders. Fuu breathed, thought. Yes, she supposed. Yes, she was interested, and yes, she was interested in acting on those feelings. She examined the thought with all the detachment the exercise gave her and let it go, at peace with it. Release.

The arrow struck true.

Fuu lowered her bow. She was out of arrows and internal conflicts to examine. It was surprisingly easy to accept her emotions now that she acknowledged their existence. Feeling them didn't change who she was like the paranoid, reserved part of her had feared. If anything, accepting the emotions made her ridiculous number of visits to Escudo lately easier to stomach. Without accepting that she liked Ferio, it felt ridiculous and something to feel guilty of. Accepting it… Well, she had never felt guilt for going after her interests. If she did, she wouldn't be at Cephiro or studying medicine or know how to use a bow at all.

She unstrung her bow, feeling lighter.

What to do about it now? Fuu could ask Ferio out directly. She smiled. That would probably leave him sputtering and confused and completely blindsided. It definitely had its appeal. Or she still had that phone number… She returned her archery things to their proper places, making plans with a smile and a calm heart.

o*o*o

 _AN: So, that's a bit more about Emeraude and Zagato... Um. Lantis was really unfortunate all around in this. Like I mentioned in an earlier chapter, I debated on Emeraude and Zagato's deaths, but that death formed a basis of connection for Lantis and Ferio, and also was part of shaping why Fuu and Ferio work for me. Think about Fuu's experience at the Spring of Eterna-the girls face their most important person, and for Fuu it was herself. But it wasn't herself for narcissistic reasons, but because she understood that taking care of herself was part of caring for the people she loved. For Ferio whose sister tried to look out for everyone but herself, I imagine someone with Fuu's worldview would be something of a miracle and someone he would want to hold onto because he wouldn't be afraid of her taking her own life or neglecting her health for others. (I mean obviously in canon there's the whole magic knight thing going on where all the girls all but die for each other at some point or another, but the point still stands that Fuu's world view is pretty opposite of Emeraude's.)_

 _The Ascot bit...well, mostly I wanted something to break up Fuu's interaction with Ferio and her processing of her emotions, and around now is when Ascot's coming to terms with his emotions and accepting them...and mostly letting them go in this universe, though they definitely linger. (He's still pretty young here. Like 15? Ish? He's a prodigy and thus in college early. But Umi's around 19, and the age gap felt a little...eh. Give it a few years maybe.) ((Side eyes the age gaps in actual CLAMP canon. _;;;;; ))_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

 **IN WHICH…**

 **Umi is hot for professor**

"Fuu." Umi's voice from the corner of the dark room had Fuu's heart beating double time. Why hadn't she turned on the lights?

"Yes?" she asked uncertainly.

" _Fuu,_ " Umi said again, sounding more upset and insistent. Fuu fumbled for the lights. Blinking against the sudden brightness, she found Umi sprawled in her usual position on the couch, one arm flung dramatically over her eyes. Her bag spilled papers across the floor next to her. Umi's last class had ended over two hours ago.

"Umi-san, what's wrong?"

"My world is ending."

That…told Fuu absolutely nothing. This was a bit extreme for Umi, but technically still within the realm of her usual behavior, so Fuu didn't think anything too bad could have happened. Still. "…Did something happen in your group project?"

"No."

"With Tarta?" Fuu guessed.

"No, worse." Umi peeked out from behind her arm. "Fuu, I think I'm falling in love with my angry midget professor."

"…excuse me?" Well. That…wasn't anything that she had been expecting.

All at once, Umi jolted upright. Her arms raised in a frustrated jerky motion. "Clef! I don't get it! I still get pissed off at how much of a jerk he can be but then he can be weirdly nice and when he smiles I want to make him smile again. Do you know what this means?" Umi curled in on herself.

"You have a type?" Fuu said, thinking of Tarta.

"No."

"You…have masochistic tendencies…"

Umi glared at her. "What? No! Fuu, it means I'm _that girl_. The girl that wants to bang her professor. I'm in the deepest pits of hell. How can I respect myself when I want to sleep with my weirdo professor?"

"There is an age gap…"

"Way too big an age gap! Like what the heck brain? Latch on to all the worst people."

Belatedly, Fuu realized that this wasn't Umi's usual half-sincere freak outs, and that this had truly caught her off guard. Comparatively, Umi's bisexual awakening had been an afterthought. "You realize you don't have to do anything about it."

"I know…" Umi sighed.

"…You aren't going to do anything about it are you?" Umi didn't answer. Fuu set down her bags and sat on the edge of the couch. She rested her hand on Umi's back. "Umi-san?"

"Gaah, I don't know okay?" Umi sighed again and flopped against Fuu's side. She hid her face in her knees. "…It'd be pretty stupid of me to start something with him wouldn't it?"

"Quite a bit, yes. Especially when you're still in his class." There were all sorts of university rules that would be breaking. Potentially a few laws too, though Umi was legally an adult. Then there were the ethics of it and what sort of light it would paint Umi or her professor were they to openly show interest in one another. …Fuu wondered what this Clef thought of Umi. Fuu rubbed slow circles against Umi's back.

"Blah." Umi said after a while. Most of her tension had leaked away. She sat up but she didn't pull away. "And I still want to kiss Tarta's stupid face. Fuu I think something's seriously wrong with me."

"Well, you'll like who you like." And Umi did have unconventional tastes. There was nothing wrong with that though.

"I guess…" Umi shrugged. She gave herself one last lingering sigh before giving herself a shake like it could brush away her thoughts. "Hey, Fuu," she said, "do you have anyone you like? I feel like it's always me bringing up my crushes. Is it that guy from the coffee shop? Because I know he likes you."

Fuu pulled back into her own space and gave Umi a secretive smile. "Hmm, I wonder."

"Is that a yes or a no?" Umi asked. "Fuu?"

Fuu kept smiling as she retrieved her bag. Oh my, she suddenly had so much homework that couldn't wait a minute longer.

"C'mon don't ignore me!"

Fuu hummed to herself. She was hardly going to admit that she was still trying to see where things would go in her romantic life.

 **Fuu has a date**

Fuu had had Ferio's phone number for weeks now. There had been the expected ribbing from Umi upon being given it, awkward non-mentioning of it the times she had been to the coffee shop, and the ever present, slightly ignorable presence of the numbers where she had tucked them away in her purse pocket. She could have texted or called him at any time. Could have, but hadn't, despite the ever growing temptation—and ultimately, resolve—to do so. Fuu couldn't help but wonder what would happen if she did text him. Would Ferio carry over the cheerful and friendly—but carefully just friendly—tone that their other interactions had? Or would he slip back toward flirtatious? Was the number a sign that he was definitely still interested, or something else? Should Fuu have responded immediately with her number? Was it too late?

It was far more complicated than it needed to be and Fuu was reminded why she had never made much effort to seek out things like romantic relationships. It was terribly distracting and she had more than enough school work to keep her busy.

Except when she didn't and Hikaru and Umi did at the moment and Fuu found herself in the apartment alone with all her work for the next week done and it was only a Tuesday.

Fuu pulled out her phone. She hadn't made many friends outside of Umi and Hikaru. There were friendly acquaintances, but that was all they were. Outside of her roommates, her friends were the people she had left behind from high school and they had all gone different directions with their lives. Fuu preferred to keep to herself or keep interactions to a surface level until she was sure she wanted to know a person better.

She did want to know Ferio better.

She typed out the phone number.

 _"Hello?"_ came Ferio's voice on the other end.

"Hello. This is Fuu. I was calling to ask if you were free sometime this week?"

 _"Fuu?"_ There was muffled scuffing on the other end, like Ferio had almost dropped his phone or was shuffling things around. " _Uh. Hi. Wasn't expecting you to call considering, uh. Right. Free time? Uh, I'm done with classes at six if you wanted to get dinner—or wait is that too weird, um, what were you thinking of doing?"_

Fuu released a silent breath of air. She hadn't been the only one nervous. She smiled a little as Ferio kept spilling words and cut his babble off with his name. "Ferio. Dinner tonight would be fine."

 _"Great! There's a nice family run place in town; good food and usually pretty quiet if that's your thing?"_

"I'm sure that will work fine. Would you care to meet up in front of the library at six thirty?"

 _"Yeah, I'll see you then."_ There was a smile in Ferio's voice and Fuu couldn't help smiling in return. Her hands felt a bit sweaty, but it wasn't the bad kind of nerves anymore. It was closer to anticipation.

"Have a good day, Ferio."

 _"You too! And, um, don't take this the wrong way but. Is this a date?"_

She'd had enough time to debate this back and forth with herself already, so it took only a moment for Fuu to nod to herself. "Yes. Yes, if you are still interested, I would like for it to be a date."

Ferio laughed, breathy and relieved. " _Okay. It's a date then."_

Fuu hung up her phone and sat for a moment until her heart slowed down. She had a date. With Ferio. Fuu smiled to herself and couldn't help but laugh.

o*o

"So. Medical track, what's the story behind that?" Ferio asked.

The restaurant had simple, homey meals, like tonkatsu or hamburger steak, and so far Fuu had found herself quite comfortable on this date. They'd talked about current classes and about Ferio's work at the coffee shop. Now they had moved on to broader getting to know you sort of topics over their desserts.

Fuu ate a spoonful of her fruit jelly. "I suppose I always intended to go into medical," Fuu said after a moment. "I enjoyed sciences and math and both my sister and I are expected to choose life paths that will support us. She went into a research field for pharmaceuticals. I am going into medicine because it is something that interests me and is helpful I suppose. It pays well enough that my parents aren't concerned about my future as well. And you?"

Ferio snorted. "I kinda chose my studies because it pissed my parents off," he admitted. His spoon mixed the dregs of his sundae around and around his bowl. "They wanted me to go into business or politics, but I don't have the head for that kind of thing. I liked the more physical side of things, but you can't really make much swinging a sword this day and age. So I figured athletic training would be a good compromise with my interests, though I admit the science side of stuff doesn't come easy."

"And history?"

"That's because it's interesting." Ferio shrugged. "I used to join in with a group of reenactors for a while. We'd do mock battles and stuff and that was fun." He pointed at his face. "Actually that's how I got the scars. One of the swords we were using got hit at the wrong angle and broke. My parents were so freaked by that I wasn't allowed to go near that sort of thing for years. I still meet up with the group every now and again these days though."

"I'd wondered about that." Fuu eyed the scar. "When I first met you, I thought you might be a delinquent."

Ferio laughed. "Wow, yeah, you wouldn't be the first. I kind of leave an awful first impression don't I?"

"It was probably just circumstantial," Fuu said. She debated whether or not it was too personal to pry into on a first date or not, but…well, she'd already spoken with him about his sister and she didn't think this was more personal than that. "So your family…"

"Ah, yeah." Ferio winced. "We don't get along. Actually it's more like I'm kind of disowned at the moment. After my sister died, I got in a huge fight with them. We were on pretty bad terms before that but… Yeah, I up and left and they cut all support."

"That's difficult." Fuu couldn't imagine her parents doing the same. But then, Fuu had never been the sort of person who gave her parents reason to be unhappy with her.

"Yeah. I got a job at the coffee shop to pay for school, and Lafarga helped get me a place to stay. I was kind of worried I wouldn't be able to stay at college for a while."

"The cost?" Fuu ventured.

"That and, well…" He looked uncomfortable. "My parents have a pretty big say in what goes on at Cephiro. My great grandfather started up the university and my parents are both on the board of directors and major contributors so…"

"Oh." That was a lot like her cousin's family actually. She tried to picture a much younger Ferio attempting to fit in with the sort of social circle Fuu had grown up in. He'd have been miserably out of place.

"Your family gets along better?" Ferio asked.

She nodded. "I have an older sister. Neither of us were the type to act out much, but I believe my parents are proud of the paths we've taken for ourselves. They were glad to see us pursue our interests. They were a bit worried when I chose to attend Cephiro since it was far away, but they trust me to take care of myself."

"Sounds nice." He smiled a little crooked.

"What's your best memory?" Fuu asked hoping to keep his mind off potential regrets regarding his family life.

Ferio blinked, finished off his dessert. "My best memory? Ever or with family or…?"

"Whatever memory you want to share."

"Huh. I don't know about best ever, but one of my favorite memories of my sister is her reading to me. I had a favorite book about a knight rescuing a princess as a kid and I'd have her read it all the time. I never thought about it back then how she never minded that it was always the same story. But. We read it together again once when I was older and I appreciated how she used to read it all the more I guess? We didn't spend a lot of time together so it meant a lot."

Fuu wanted to reach out and hug him. The impulse startled her, but there was something bittersweet in his smile that left him looking very vulnerable. She had to look away before she did reach out, and she busied herself with her food for a moment. "That sounds like a lovely memory."

"Yeah. And you?"

Fuu looked up into Ferio's eyes. For all her first impressions of him, he was only open and interested and comfortable to be around now. She searched for a memory that fit; that would share something of her like Ferio had just given so freely. None of her family memories had that depth. She loved her family, but they were all busy people who pursued their own interests in their own time. It was similar with her memories of school and her friends before college. She remembered happy moments but…

"I think my happiest memories are since I came to Cephiro," she said after a moment. "I truly enjoy being here. I love my roommates and my classes. A few weeks ago, I stayed up with my roommates watching movies and making fun of them and sitting in a blanket fort just because we could." The blanket fort had been Hikaru's idea. The pillow fight that eventually followed had been all Umi. "I'd never done anything like that before. I've only known them for a few months and I feel closer to them than I do to friends I've had for years."

"I get that." Ferio smiled. "They are kind of a whole new family."

"They are." Umi and Hikaru were like two more sisters, and for once it felt like Fuu was the older sister. She wanted to hold and protect them and just thinking about their months together filled her with warm contentment.

"I guess that's how I feel about Lafarga and Caldina. Don't tell Caldina that though, she'd tease the heck out of me."

They shared a smile. Fuu couldn't picture a better first date.

 **Eagle kisses Lantis kisses Hikaru**

Things were going according to plan. Lantis was back in Eagle's life and had forgiven him. And Eagle had forgiven Lantis. Eagle had his friends at his back, his classes were going wonderfully as expected, and the new presence of Shidou Hikaru in his life—their lives—was going smoothly. Eagle probably should have been satisfied with things the way they were, but if Eagle was the sort to be satisfied with good enough, he wouldn't have come to Cephiro at all.

"You need to take better care of yourself," Lantis said in the moment Eagle came to his decision. Lantis's familiar hands wound a spare scarf around Eagle's neck, straightened and zipped up his coat against the ever cooler weather. He had done the same thing at Autozam, forever catching Eagle's hands to force gloves or mittens on them, or failing to have spares, pull them into his own pockets or hands to keep his fingers warm. "You get sick easier now."

"I'm not fragile," Eagle said. It amused him then to watch Lantis mother-hen him the way Geo did; it amused him now.

Lantis's lips pressed together, disagreement as clear as if he had voiced it. That too was familiar.

"Am I sufficiently bundled up now?" Eagle teased, tugging lightly at the borrowed scarf. It was the same soft blue as the sky, like Cephiro's skies without the ever present smog that Autozam dealt with in the city.

"I have to wonder how you survived without stealing all my scarves and gloves," Lantis sighed.

"I stole Geo's," Eagle said.

"Of course you did." His hand was still on Eagle's chest, absentminded. A remnant of a routine that was out of practice.

It would be the simplest thing in the world to complete it. "Your scarves are always better," Eagle said. "They smell like you."

A shift in Lantis's stance, tiny, just the slightest move back with surprise. Maybe Lantis didn't think about those past moments like Eagle did. Maybe he really had moved on.

Eagle had always been a selfish person. He hadn't moved on from Lantis at all. He leaned into the hand on his chest, saw Lantis's eyes widen, and completed their old routine with a chaste kiss. "Thank you, Lantis. I'm sure I'll be warm all the way home."

Eagle left him in the doorway before he could pull himself together. Next time would be Lantis's move. Eagle smiled to himself. Oh, he was probably in trouble. He had Lantis's blue scarf and a stolen kiss and the easy way they'd slid back into each other's lives to keep him warm though. If he'd read Lantis right, this wouldn't be a problem in the long run at all.

*o*o*

Lantis peeled off the safety equipment piece by piece. It was something he'd insisted on after the first spar with Hikaru, which Hikaru hadn't been happy about but would wear since it meant Lantis would be a sparring partner. He liked the time he spent sparring with her. Having a competent sparring partner was something he had missed since returning to Cephiro. It was always soothing to lose himself in the flow of it, to focus on the moment instead of any thoughts that might be plaguing him.

Of course thinking about sparring partners before Hikaru meant thinking about Eagle, and Lantis had finally gotten Eagle off his mind.

Hikaru shook her braid out the face mask. Her bangs stuck to her skin by a fine sheen of sweat and her lips curved in a wide smile. Hikaru was wonderful at pulling his thoughts away from obsessing over problems. "Thanks for the spar!" she said. "I'm feeling a lot better now!"

"Was something the matter before?" She had seemed happy enough—though she always looked happy to see him and even happier to pull out her bokken to fight.

"The second semester is a bit harder than the first one," Hikaru said, "and I didn't do the greatest on my test. But that's over now, so I'll just have to do better on the next one."

"If you ever need help…" Lantis offered.

"Thanks." She smiled, not the blinding grin of a moment ago, but still a warm smile. "Geo is tutoring me and I know so many smart people that I know I can ask for help. There's so many nice people here."

Lantis nodded. He followed her from the practice room from habit to where they stored their safety gear and practice swords. There were a lot of good people at Cephiro. It was a pity that the system behind it was less nice, too traditional minded to recognize the individuality and talent of the people attending the school at times. Thinking about that took his thoughts down unpleasant tracks too. Lantis didn't feel like going down that road tonight, not now when he was having a good time with Hikaru.

Hikaru didn't seem to mind when he was silent, like now. It was never strained, she just accepted him for when he was quiet or filled it with her thoughts when she had something to say. That was a lot like Eagle too, and why did Eagle have to keep coming back around again and again in his thoughts? He sighed.

"Are you okay?" Hikaru asked. Her hand touched his wrist.

He didn't know how to answer that. He focused on her hand against him instead, using it as an anchor against the whirl of emotions and thoughts. Lantis liked this girl. He liked how she was passionate about what she cared about, how she saw the best in people, how she cared. That didn't make how he felt toward Eagle any less complicated; there was too much history there, and something fragile and new building here with Hikaru. At least he thought there might be.

"Lantis?"

"Hikaru, is there anyone you care for?" Lantis winced internally at his wording. That was probably too ambiguous for literal-minded Hikaru.

Hikaru blinked up at him. "Lantis and Eagle." She paused. "And Umi and Fuu and Presea and Geo and my family and…and everyone else. I care about a lot of people." She bit her lip and Lantis couldn't look away as her cheeks tinged pink. "But. I like Lantis…and Eagle. Differently."

Oh. Both of them? Was that even possible? More importantly, what was Eagle thinking in all of this because he had to have noticed something going on and he had kissed Lantis anyway. Lantis swallowed and turned his hand over, let Hikaru's fingers slide against the vulnerable stretch of his inner wrist to the palm of his hand. "Okay," Lantis said. His fingers curled around hers.

"…You and Eagle are close," she said softly.

"Yes." The word felt choked in his throat. If he told her Eagle kissed him two days ago, that they had dated once, how would she react? Lantis didn't tell her that though. Things were complicated enough without bringing it up. Before he could figure any of this out, he had to be sure… He held Hikaru's hand a bit tighter and leaned down. "Hikaru, may I kiss you?"

"Yes."

Hikaru didn't close her eyes as he leaned the rest of the way down. Lantis cupped her face in his free hand. He kissed her, long enough to be less than chaste, but not so long to be pressuring. Lantis brushed sweat damp hair free from her cheek as he pulled back. The blush on Hikaru's cheeks was darker now.

"Was that okay?" he asked.

"Yes." Hikaru smiled, bright and warm; it made him feel brighter seeing it. She squeezed his hand and pulled away. "Get dinner with me?" she asked like it wasn't what they always did if they had the time.

"Of course."

The kiss lingered on his lips. Like Eagle's had lingered. _I like Lantis…and Eagle._ Hikaru _and_ Eagle. Now where, Lantis wondered, did Eagle stand in all of this? He tightened his hand around Hikaru's, planning to find out.

 **Hikaru meets weird people**

Umi leveled a cup of flour, squinting at it like the measurement was off. Usually she didn't bother to measure perfectly, but this cake was going to be a gift, so she felt a little paranoid. Thankfully Fuu wasn't there at the moment of she'd probably laugh at her in the roundabout way she had. Usually Fuu was the one in their dorm apartment all the time, but she'd been studying elsewhere a lot more lately. Addicted to that coffee shop she kept bringing pastries from or something. Or maybe she was dating someone and being annoyingly secretive about it. Umi could dream. She poured the flour into a bowl and painstakingly measured out a spoonful of baking powder. Umi didn't mind the quiet really, but it felt weird to be alone in the room so often. There was Hikaru, but, well, Hikaru didn't seem to keep a regular schedule outside of classes and kendo.

"I'm back!" came a cheerful call from the entryway. …And that would be Hikaru. Naturally.

Umi moved on to the wet ingredients since the dry were all there. "Hey, Hikaru! In the kitchen. Fuu's out somewhere."

"Again?" Hikaru's voice got closer as she made her way to the kitchen. "That's the second time this week. Ooh, what are you making?"

"Cupcakes. For Tarta and Ascot to celebrate finishing our group project."

"Nice!" Hikaru chirped from Umi's right shoulder.

Umi glanced at her and almost dropped half a pack of butter on the floor. "Hikaru, what are you wearing?!"

"This?" She looked down at herself. She was dressed in puffy skirt with a half poncho-like top, with a turtleneck under it, a utility belt, and some sort of headband with wires leading who knew where. She looked like she'd walked off some sort of scifi set, only whoever'd designed the costume had had a thing for school girls. "Someone asked me to pose for some pictures and he said I could keep the costume."

Umi set everything she was holding down and took a deep breath to keep a hold on the sudden spike of alarm Hikaru's explanation brought. "Who asked you and why?"

"I think he was an art student?" Hikaru shrugged. "I was in the art building to talk to Presea-san and he ran over and said I looked just like what the protagonist in the game he was working on was supposed to look like. Then he asked if I could wear a costume so he could get reference pictures." She tugged on one of the over skirt panels. "It sounded like a fun project so…"

….Fuu should be here for this. Fuu was so much better at being calm. And explaining things. And not freaking out that Hikaru had gone off with a strange guy to take pictures. "Please tell me you didn't go to his dorm room."

"Eh? Of course not. I changed in a bathroom at the art building and we used one of the photography rooms since they have light equipment."

It was times like this that Umi got why Hikaru's older brothers were so over protective of her. "He just took pictures?"

"Yeah. I did some battle stances like…this! And this!" Hikaru posed like she was going to punch something and then like she was using some sort of brain powered spell with a hand on the headband. "It was really fun! He said that the game's supposed to be done at the end of the year; there's a fair to show off senior projects or something? But it sounded really cool, and it was nice that he let me keep the costume."

Who just happened to have a costume of a character they made up? No, scratch that, how had this guy happened to have a costume that fit Hikaru perfectly? It was all kinds of creepy and Hikaru was way too trusting. Umi rested her head in her hands a long moment until she no longer felt like she was going to track the weirdo down or spirit Hikaru away into a tower to keep potentially creepo guys away. "Hikaru?" she said.

"Yeah, Umi-chan?"

"Please promises me you won't go off with someone like that again. Or at least that you'll bring someone with you so you're not alone with a strange guy asking to take pictures of you in weird clothes? Please?"

Hikaru ducked down to look at Umi's face. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. Fine. Just really alarmed at your lack of self-preservation."

"He wasn't a creepy person, Umi-chan, he was really excited about what he was working on. Besides, if he turned out to be creepy, I can take care of myself."

"Still. Promise me ok?" Umi set her hands on Hikaru's shoulders. This girl.

"I promise," Hikaru said. "…This is something I probably shouldn't tell my brothers about, huh?"

"Yeah, probably not." Umi still remembered the time one of Hikaru's brothers had visited and a boy had bumped into Hikaru while they were walking. She'd never seen a guy burst into tears like that before. "They'd probably try to kill him."

"More like castrate," Hikaru said. Umi did a double take as Hikaru said, "I'm going to go change."

"You do that…" Umi was sure that naivety wasn't an act and yet sometimes… Yeah, no, not thinking about that. Baking. She had been baking. Umi reached for that butter again and firmly did not follow that trail of thought.

o*O*o

 _AN: I always thought it was kind of creepy that Zazu just happened to have clothes Hikaru's size lying around...and changed her into them. _ At least for Umi and Fuu Chizeta and Fahren had female characters present who presumably did the changing._

 _In other news, hey, look at the relationships progressing this chapter. Boy oh boy it's actually going somewhere. T_T (sssh. they do things at their own pace)_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

 **IN WHICH…**

 **Fuu meets Escudo's backbone**

It was funny, Fuu thought. She'd been coming to Escudo for several months now, but she'd never been properly introduced to anyone. But because she'd been going there frequently, it wasn't as unnerving as it could be when Ferio asked if he could introduce her to his coworkers. They'd met before, this would just be under a different context. In all honesty, Ferio was more nervous than she was. He gripped her hand as they entered Escudo through the back after hours.

The first thing Fuu noticed was the smell—baking cakes and breads filling the air with the scents of cinnamon and vanilla and yeast dough. Then there was the warm kitchen and the people grouped around a table there while someone mixed some kind of batter at a countertop. They were all people she'd seen before; Lafarga who was apparently the owner, Lantis who worked the counter on Ferio's off days, a younger man who Fuu had seen talking to Ferio several times, and a cheerfully grinning woman who could often be found sitting at the first table inside Escudo's entrance. They looked up at Ferio's arrival. The woman's grin went even wider as she elbowed the boy next to her.

"Hey," Ferio said. "So. _Someone_ kept asking about my girlfriend." He shot the woman a look. "So I figured I'd introduce her. This is Fuu. Fuu, meet everyone else."

"Y'know, introducin' means actually introducin', hon," the woman said, bouncing over to Fuu's side. She leaned in uncomfortably close. "I'm Caldina, nice ta meetchya. Just ignore Ferio bein' all shy. We've all wanted ta meet ya proper."

"I'm pleased to meet you as well, Caldina-san," Fuu said.

Caldina tipped her head toward Ferio. "So formal, you been telling her stories?"

"What? No!" Ferio sputtered.

"I prefer to be courteous," Fuu said. She blinked when Caldina linked arms with her and pulled her over to the table. It was rather familiar of her.

"This is Lantis," Caldina said, "and the kiddo's Ascot." Lantis nodded and Ascot waved, looked a little annoyed to be referred to as a kid. "And the handsome man over there makin' up cupcakes is Lafarga." Caldina winked. "He's mine."

Lafarga smiled and didn't contradict that statement. "It's nice to properly meet you," Lafarga said.

"Especially since Ferio's been moonin' over you for ages."

"Caldina!" Ferio complained.

"It was cute," Caldina said, ignoring him.

Fuu couldn't help smiling. It was comfortable, being led to one of the chairs, how Ascot patted Ferio on the back in a commiserating way, how Caldina had scooped Fuu up. An instant enfolding into the group. A little overwhelming but… She caught Ferio's eyes and he smiled. It felt like a family, probably was like a family to Ferio, and out of all the people in his life, they were the ones he felt she should meet most.

The next hour was a whirlwind of questions—"What's yer major? Ah gonna be a doctor then? Well, Ferio, looks like she'll be supporting you"—and watching Ferio interact with the people around him. Fuu found Caldina loud, but friendly, like an enthusiastic big sister as she teased Ferio and Fuu alike. Lantis was quiet and serious, but he and Fuu had a conversation about tea before Ferio and Caldina chimed in about tea drinkers versus coffee. Ascot didn't say much, but when he did, it was usually something pointed and well thought out. Somewhere in all of it, Lafarga pulled baking in and out of the oven and joined them at the table with a few fresh muffins for them all to share.

By the time they left, Fuu was breathless from laughing at Caldina's reenactment of Ferio learning how to use the coffee equipment, and Ferio looked content.

Fuu thanked everyone for their hospitality and Caldina made her promise to visit outside of hours again.

"That was nice," Fuu said, Ferio's hand once again gripping hers as they walked their way toward her apartment. It was late now, later than she usually was up, but that was fine. It was a bit exciting to be up this late and the night was quiet and full of bright stars that never showed up so clearly in Tokyo.

"Yeah." Ferio bumped his shoulder against hers. "I think Caldina wants to adopt you," he teased.

"Well I certainly wouldn't stop her."

"She'll find ways to embarrass you and the worst part is she never gets embarrassed back by anything."

Fuu laughed. She leaned into Ferio's side and he squeezed her hand. "I'm glad I got to meet them."

"Same. They've been asking to meet you for ages."

"They care about you a lot."

"Yeah. They're more than coworkers or friends, you know?" He looked up at the sky at where the moon had a few wispy clouds scattered over it. "It's like I got some weird extended family at some point. You know, the serious uncle and cousin, the crazy big sister and a little brother. Sort of. I mean, Lantis is a little outside the family sphere due to certain things, but."

"I understand." Fuu let herself enjoy the closeness, the night time stillness like a private bubble around them. "You should meet my roommates soon."

"Oh, so you will let me meet them?" Ferio teased.

"Umi-san has been asking questions. Besides, I've met your important people, you should meet some of mine."

"Thanks. I'd like that." He laughed. "Though I'm kind of wary of Umi. I didn't really think things through with the whole giving you my phone number through her. She apparently held onto my number."

"She didn't!" Fuu said, looking up at him.

"She did. Every once in a while she texts me to ask about what Escudo's selling this week or to try and find out if we're dating."

Fuu sighed. "Of course she does. Oh dear. I can talk to her about that if you want?"

"It's fine. I find it kind of funny actually."

"Still." Fuu shook her head. They were coming up on her building now, and they slowed to a stop outside it, just leaning against each other. "I suppose I should go."

"Yeah." Neither of them moved.

It had been a good night. Part of Fuu didn't want it to end, especially not the warm intimacy, or the privacy of the world well past midnight. "We should do this again," she said.

"This?" Ferio put an arm around her. She turned into it, making it a proper hug.

"This. Visit people we care for. Laugh together. Walk in the middle of the night."

"I'd like to, too." He leaned down and Fuu leaned up, and they kissed. One kiss became two, then another and another.

It was Fuu who finally pulled away, sleepiness finally winning over the pleasure of the moment. "I really should go."

"Yeah." Ferio's thumb made circles on the back of her hand.

"Now."

"Mm hmm."

Fuu kissed him one more time and stepped out of the warm circle of his arms before she did something like invite him back to her room. They weren't at that point yet and, well, she should really introduce him to her roommates before bringing any significant other home with her. "Goodnight, Ferio."

"Night, Fuu."

She felt him watching until she was back in the building. He was there until she made it back to her room, watching the building with a faraway smile on his face. He finally shook himself and left, but not until Fuu had been watching him back for a few minutes with her own smile.

She was becoming invested in this relationship a lot faster than she had expected. Surprisingly, she didn't mind at all.

 **There are too many pretty people in the world**

The room was dark when Fuu got back. It was later than usual, but such was the way with final papers even if she had started it well in advance. It was complete and submitted, and all Fuu wanted was to collapse into her bed for the next eight hours. Because it was so late, she certainly didn't expect to hear Umi's voice from the living room sofa.

"Fuuuuuu," Umi groaned, sounding like the world was crumbling around her. There was a strange hitch in her breathing that had Fuu's instincts ringing alarm bells as she suppressed her surprise.

"Umi-san?" She flipped on the light. "Why are you on the couch?" Umi sprawled, face pressed into one of the decorative pillows Umi had brought back from her last trip home. When she looked up, her face was splotchy and her eyes red with tears. "Umi-san, what happened?"

Umi sniffed. "Tarta hates meeee."

"Why would Tarta-san hate you?" Fuu asked. Last she knew, the two of them were dating and everything was going well.

"Because there's too many attractive people in the world."

There was more going on than Umi's usual wild mood swings. Fuu crouched next to her only to flinch back when she caught a whiff of Umi's breath. "Have you been drinking?"

"Went to a party with Tarta." Umi sniffed, buried her face in the pillow again. "Celebrating," she said, muffled by the fabric.

"Umi-san," Fuu sighed. This was not the first time Umi had had a drink out. It was, however, the first time she had come back drunk. Fuu set a hand on Umi's back, patting in gentle circles. "Why don't you try explaining from the beginning?"

"Went to the party," Umi said, turning on her side to face Fuu. "We had a drink or two and were having fun, and we were people watching and I said someone was pretty. And Tarta got mad at me." Umi started crying again. "But I _like_ her! Lots of people are pretty! Tarta's pretty, the guys in my lit class are pretty, Clef's pretty, you're pretty—but I don't _like_ like you! I'm dating Tarta and I'd…I wouldn't just…"

Fuu stroked Umi's hair as her friend curled against her side.

After a minute, Umi continued. "We got in a fight and I had another drink, but Tarta made me leave and walked me back. But she wouldn't talk to me or look at me and she has to haaaaate meeeee." The last bit came out in a wail as Umi curled in on herself.

"I'm sure that's not true. She walked you back, didn't she? She wouldn't do that if she hated you, Umi-san."

Umi didn't respond. Fuu sighed. Umi still wasn't making much sense, and the only other person who could give an explanation was Tarta. Fuu patted Umi one more time and found Umi's purse, searching out her cell phone. She scrolled to the correct contact and waited for it to connect, hearing the other end ring.

"Whaddya want?" a voice said on the other end, ready for a fight.

Fuu looked at Umi's unhappy ball on the couch and centered herself. "Tarta-san, I presume? This is Umi-san's roommate, Fuu."

"Her roommate? Shit. Is she okay? I left her with a glass of water 'nd all… She didn't seem that drunk."

There was an empty glass of water on the lamp stand; Umi had drank the water at least, one less worry for Fuu. "Umi-san is fine." For a certain value of fine. "I'm calling to ask what happened tonight and why Umi-san seems certain that you hate her."

"What? Well I'm kinda annoyed at her," Tarta grumbled, "but I ain't that mad. I think a girl has a right to be a little pissed when her date notices hella lot of attractive things in a half dozen people around her but doesn't even say her girlfriend looked nice tonight." Tarta snorted. "I mean that makes ya a little self-conscious."

That was a fair point. Still… "Umi-san is attracted to a good number of people, but so long as she is dating you, she would never break your trust."

"I know that!" Tarta snapped. "She likes some guys and all. I just figured she was pan or somethin. Or maybe poly since she can like more'n one person without it meanin' less to the other." A brief defensive silence and then, "I looked some shit up when we started datin' okay?"

Fuu smiled, feeling a little more reassured already. "I'm glad that you've thought about that then." She glanced at Umi who was still in a ball, but was very still, probably listening to every word for some sort of reassurance. "It's something you should talk about with her. Perhaps establishing what boundaries you are comfortable with would help prevent something like this from happening again."

Tarta snorted again. "We're both emotional people. We're probly gonna fight or get upset about shit a lot. But I'll talk to her. I ain't gonna dump her for findin' someone else hot. And wouldn't if she fell for someone too, but I'd have ta see what I'd be okay with. I dunno. Whatever."

Tarta's voice got more and more grumbly while she went on, and Fuu could picture her and Umi prodding each other into arguments that would spark like fireworks but would level out back into companionship once it fizzled back out. Underneath the defensiveness, Fuu could tell Tarta cared a lot though. That was good.

"I'm glad to hear it."

"Tell her ta stop worryin', I'm not going anywhere."

"I'll pass that on."

Tarta hung up without any further words, so Fuu set Umi's phone aside. "How much of that did you get, Umi-san?" Fuu asked, crouching back down at Umi's side.

"…she doesn't hate me?" Umi mumbled into her knees.

"She doesn't hate you," Fuu agreed. "In fact, it sounds like she cares enough to consider what make you happy in the long run. She seems like a good person."

"Keep meaning to introduce her to you guys," Umi said. She looked up, eyes still red from crying, but her face dry. "Never seem to all be free at the same time."

"I'd love to meet her, Umi-san," Fuu said gently. "She said she doesn't plan on going anywhere, but she is a bit mad that you complimented someone else but not her."

"Oh." Umi blinked. "I'm always thinking it but I guess I didn't say it out loud."

"Talk with her in the morning?"

"Yeah…" Umi rolled, catching Fuu off guard as she suddenly found herself with a lapful of friend. "Thank you for being awesome," Umi said, face squished against Fuu's stomach.

"You're welcome, Umi-san." Fuu hugged Umi back and her friend relaxed against her.

"I overreacted didn't I?"

"Hmm," Fuu hummed. "Perhaps a bit over the depth of the hurt, but I suppose this is your first real fight with Tarta-san, yes? Everything else was over little things that were forgotten as soon as you brought them up? This is the first time deeper emotions were involved, so I don't think your emotions were wrong. You could tell that it was different from the other arguments and that made you worried."

"Yeah…" Umi hugged her tighter before letting go and sitting back. "I meant it when I said you're pretty though, Fuu. You're pretty, and kind and smart and whoever you end up dating's a lucky person and I'm glad to be your friend."

"Thank you, Umi-san." Fuu felt a tiny sliver of amusement now that the crisis had been averted. Umi was even more upfront about what she thought when intoxicated, it seemed. Umi yawned, likely drained from the alcohol and receding adrenaline, along with the late hour. "Bed?"

"Yeah. I'm going." She stood without needing Fuu's help. "Thanks again Fuu." Umi shuffled off toward her room.

"You're welcome," Fuu said, though it was anyone's guess if Umi heard her or not. Fuu looked after her for a moment feeling drained herself. How would Umi react if Fuu brought up the relationship blooming between her and Ferio? Fuu…wasn't quite ready to talk about it yet. Sometimes she wished it was easier to be candid with her emotions the way Umi or Hikaru were.

Knowing that if she ever did bring it up, Umi would listen like Fuu did for her was enough for now though.

Hikaru still wasn't back, but there was a message on Fuu's phone saying she would be out late and not to wait up. Fuu read it and put her phone away before following Umi's lead and collapsing into bed.

 **Ferio contemplates the 'L' word**

Ferio watched Fuu push her hair behind one ear, bent over a biology textbook. Her brow was furrowed just a bit with concentration and every few minutes she'd jot down some note or other. He was supposed to be doing his own work. Supposed to be being key since Ferio was pretty sure he'd read the same sentence ten times in the last half hour without getting anywhere. He couldn't help it. It was hard to do his work when he just wanted to sit and appreciate the fact that he was doing something as simple and mundane as doing homework across from Fuu.

There had been a lot of these moments lately. Fuu showing up as he got out of class to walk with him to the next one, Fuu sitting at a table in Escudo while Ferio worked, Ferio finding Fuu in the library and studying at the same table, and of course more dates. The dates were nice, but he liked the little moments even more than the activities. It seemed ridiculous to feel happy about sitting in silence, but Ferio wanted more of these moments. He wanted to curl up next to her on his crappy sofa and study side by side, or make her dinner, or bundle up to stand outdoors and look at the stars. It was sappy and romantic and embarrassing enough that he wouldn't admit most of that out loud. Caldina would only end up teasing him more.

Fuu glanced up, caught his eyes, and smiled. Ferio smiled back, then looked back down at his book, a bit embarrassed to be caught staring. He'd thought he had it bad before, but now that they were dating…

Ferio was pretty sure he was in love with her.

He was equally sure that it would be way too soon to bring up the 'L' word in any conversations. Fuu was someone that lived in a more logical and structured world than he did. If he said anything as strong as love so soon she'd probably be uncomfortable. That didn't stop his head from filling with romantic fantasies and the desire to do something that would sweep her off her feet… or something. He kept getting torn between dramatic actions and quiet moments in his fantasies, and it was the fact that he fantasized about mundane things that made him pretty sure it was actually love.

"Want to go on a walk after we finish up here?" Fuu asked, cutting through his thoughts. He'd been staring blankly at that same sentence again.

"Yeah," he said. He'd agree to doing just about anything if it meant spending more time together. "Once we're done."

"You should probably try actually reading that article then," Fuu said, eyes sparkling with humor.

Ferio blushed. She'd definitely noticed him staring the whole time. Fuu giggled. "Shuuuush," he mumbled into his hands.

"I'm flattered you can't keep your eyes off me," Fuu said, laughter still in her voice, "but if you can't concentrate, maybe studying together isn't the best idea."

Ferio snapped up the article. "Reading!"

Fuu laughed and Ferio's face slowly cooled down from its explosive blush.

Yeah. Yeah, he definitely liked that girl more than he thought he could like anyone.

 **Eagle makes arrangements**

They were all carefully not talking about it. Lantis hadn't brought up the kiss. He hadn't brought up whatever change had happened between him and Hikaru either. Eagle could let this go on indefinitely in hope that either Lantis or Hikaru made a choice, or… Or he could move things in a different direction.

"Geo?" Eagle said to his roommate. Geo glanced at where Eagle was sprawled across their living room couch.

"…What?" he said warily.

Eagle quirked his lips in a ghost of a smile. Geo knew him too well. "I might do something stupid soon. Or it might be brilliant. I haven't determined which yet."

"And you're telling me this….why?"

"You told me to warn you the next time I did something stupid."

Geo swore under his breath. "Do I dare ask what kind of stupid?" Eagle did smile then. "Wait, let me guess, it involves Lantis doesn't it?"

"Am I that predictable?" Eagle asked lightly.

"I just know you two and Lantis is uncomfortable about something." When nothing more was forthcoming, Geo sighed. "You're going to make me ask aren't you?"

"I don't know what you mean."

"I hate you." Geo shook his head. "Alright, I'll bite, what's going on with you and Lantis?"

"The usual," Eagle said with a grin, "and then there's Hikaru."

"Eagle if you mess with her I'm going to be very disappointed in you."

"You assume I'm not serious."

"You're serious about Lantis. I don't know what the hell you are toward her."

Eagle sat up and shrugged. "I'm not sure either, but I think we can work something out." He slumped forward to lean against his knees. "Because Lantis definitely likes her, you see."

"And you can't leave him alone." Geo rubbed his forehead. Eagle couldn't even pretend to feel bad about the potential headaches he gave Geo. Seeing Geo's stressed face was a bit too amusing. "Fine. Whatever. Don't break any hearts."

"So I can get your help with my plan then?"

Geo shot him a look. "I want nothing to do with any of your romantic plans."

Eagle grinned. "Great! So you can clear out on Friday evening then, hmm? Take Zazu with you?"

"…You'd better not be planning to sexile me."

"Geo, I'd never." Eagle's shit eating grin said otherwise. Granted he'd never actually sexiled anyone even back when he was dating Lantis. "I just want to have a date. Make a few proposals."

"Proposals," Geo repeated flatly.

"You know, see how dating two people would work."

"I want no part of this."

"Oh, and can I borrow your kitchenware?"

Geo sat up, alarmed. "Hell no, don't even try cooking."

Eagle laughed. "Or I could set things up and leave it to Lantis."

"Eagle, you don't have your date cook for you."

"You do if you don't want them to know it's a date."

Geo threw his hands up and walked away. Eagle laughed again and pulled out his cell phone. _What are you doing Friday?_

 _*o*o*_

Lantis had the sense that he was walking into a trap when Eagle greeted him at the door with one of his insubstantially cheerful smiles. "Eagle…" he said, debating if it would be better to turn around or not. It seemed after several weeks of not doing anything about the kiss, Eagle was done waiting for some sort of response.

"Good, you're here!" Eagle all but dragged him into the apartment. "I bought the ingredients but Geo still has a kitchen ban on me; go make dinner."

"Eagle," Lantis repeated, letting himself be pushed because Eagle would and could drag him if he put his mind to it. "What are you planning?"

"A dinner and game night with friends?" Eagle said innocently. "Hikaru's supposed to be here soon."

"And where are Geo and Zazu?" Lantis asked, obediently getting prepped for cooking.

"They had a party to go to. You know Zazu and parties."

 _How convenient of them_ , Lantis thought skeptically. "I know what you're trying to do."

"Do you?" Eagle asked, smile showing a bit of steel behind it.

Lantis thought he might. It seemed a bit hard to believe. He let it drop for the moment though.

Eagle relaxed fractionally, leaning close before going off to do…whatever he was doing. Lantis sighed and surveyed the things Eagle had left out. It would all add up to a pasta dish he'd made in the past often enough, and the makings for a salad.

He got to work, listening to Eagle move around the apartment, ducking in to set the table and flit away again. The pasta was almost done when Hikaru arrived, and Lantis chopped vegetables for the salad half listening to the rise and fall of her and Eagle's voices.

"Hikaru brought dessert!" Eagle said, popping back into the kitchen with a box in hand. It was from Escudo. Inside might even be a dessert Lantis had worked on. He turned back to finishing up their meal.

*o*o*

Hikaru was pretty sure this was a date. No one had called it a date, but everything fit the setting for one. There was a nicely set table, a nice meal courtesy of Lantis's kitchen skills, a weight to the atmosphere between them filled with some sort of expectation; the only difference from a normal date was that there were three of them rather than just a couple. Hikaru fiddled with her napkin. There was even wine, courtesy of Eagle, though Hikaru wasn't really supposed to drink that sort of thing yet. Technically she only had a glass, and technically that was half lemon soda to make it better suit her taste. Technicalities aside, it was something her brothers wouldn't be okay with, something Umi would encourage, and something Fuu would advise to use her discretion on, and Hikaru felt pretty comfortable with just the bit she'd had.

Point behind all of this; this was a date even if no one would say it, and Hikaru had to wonder if Eagle actually meant it to be something shared between the three of them or if there was something that she was missing. Hikaru hoped it wasn't just something she was missing.

"Dessert?" Eagle asked, swirling wine around in his glass. He'd had the most to drink, though he didn't look affected by it at all. Lantis on the other hand…

Hikaru peeked at him. He'd only had one glass as well, but he'd looked much more relaxed by the end of it. Despite his looks, he must not metabolize alcohol very well.

"Or maybe save it for later?" Eagle said when no one responded.

Hikaru brought herself to attention. "Ah, yes, maybe later. The food was good, so I ate a lot…"

Eagle smiled. "Lantis is a good cook isn't he? Thank you for the lovely meal by the way."

"You bought the ingredients," Lantis said looking away.

"Well, if we're saving dessert, then we can skip straight to games."

"No truth or dare," Lantis said immediately.

"I wasn't going to suggest it. I figured you were still mad about last time." Eagle sighed like Lantis was being ridiculous.

"What happened last time?" Hikaru asked.

"Lantis had to spend the whole night shirtless and referring to himself in third person because he wouldn't say truths about our dating life."

Oh. "You two used to date?"

They looked at each other, and it was so in synch and full of familiarity of the other person, Hikaru wondered how she'd missed that. She knew that they were close but she hadn't realized it was in that way… For a second she felt out of place, the newcomer in a well-worn relationship, an intruder. But then they both looked at her, keeping her in the loop rather than excluding.

"We went to another school before Cephiro," Eagle said. "It's been a few years."

Lantis cleared his throat. "No 'never have I ever' as well, Eagle. No drinking games at all."

"Well that's no fun." Eagle made a face, reaching across the table to fill up Lantis's glass again anyway. Lantis gave him a resigned look. "We're all friends here, why not play games to get to know each other better?"

Was it Hikaru's imagination that the way he said 'better' insinuated something more?

"We could just play one of Zazu's stash of board games," Lantis said.

"Or…we could play two truths and a lie," Eagle wheedled. "I'll start. I love chocolate, peanut butter, and grape preserves."

"You hate peanut butter," Lantis said, picking the lie easily.

"See? And now Hikaru knows a bit more about me."

"This is going to be biased," Lantis said.

"I don't mind," Hikaru said. She wanted to know more, even random, silly facts that wouldn't mean anything.

"Lantis next," Eagle said.

Lantis sipped at his wine. "I've never read a book in French, I can't read Chinese, and I don't know a word of German."

Eagle waved a hand, indicating Hikaru should guess. She blinked and hazarded, "You can read Chinese?"

"Pin-pon, you got it right," Eagle said. "He can read some Chinese, once masochistically struggled through a book in French for extra credit in a language course, and can't seem to get any German to stick."

Lantis looked away.

"Your turn Hikaru!" Eagle chirped.

"Right." Two facts about herself and a lie. Two facts. Shoot, what was even a fact anymore? They knew about her brothers and her dog, Hikari, and a lot about her roommates and her kendo practices… "Uh, my favorite grade school activity was art, my favorite food is apples, and my favorite flower is sunflowers…"

"Your favorite activity was actually gym class?" Eagle guessed.

"Actually, no, I loved gym but I liked making things in art class to share with my family, so that was my favorite."

"The lie is apples," Lantis said.

"Yeah. I like them well enough, but I like cake more than fruit."

"Lantis wins that one," Eagle said with a sigh. "So you like sunflowers?"

"They're bright and cheerful."

"They suit you." He smiled and Hikaru had to look down, hoping her face didn't get too red. "My turn then," Eagle continued.

They went around like that for a few turns. Eagle's favorite color was blue, not green. Lantis disliked horror movies. Hikaru couldn't cook more than simple rice and soup. Eagle never won any contests that relied on luck. Lantis and his brother had a dog growing up. Hikaru talked in her sleep.

Hikaru was warming up to the game, and even Lantis had a small smile on his face at Hikaru's last truths and lie (she slept next to her dog, she once had pajamas covered with smiling cupcakes, and that she was a quiet sleeper). They both looked at Eagle to see what he would come up with this time.

"Hmm." Eagle rested his chin on one hand, swirling the dregs of his wine. "My first kiss was named Luce. My second kiss was when I was fourteen. And…" He swallowed the last of the wine. "I don't want to kiss either of you."

Hikaru heard Lantis take a sharp breath, but she couldn't look to see what kind of expression was on his face because Eagle was staring at her with a smile on his face that said he knew exactly what he was doing. Her heart was too fast in her chest and she couldn't look away from the challenge he was presenting.

"You want to kiss us both," Hikaru said.

"Correct," Eagle said.

Hikaru, at a loss, looked to Lantis and found him looking back. She remembered his question not too long ago and the answer she had given him then. _Lantis_ _ **and**_ _Eagle._ "Lantis?" she asked.

"There's a very low chance of this working out," Lantis said. Not refusing though, not saying he wasn't interested. Eagle reached out and caught his hand, held out the other to Hikaru. She took it and offered her free hand to Lantis. He took it. "What are we doing?"

"I," Eagle said, "am asking both of you to date me. Or I suppose if that isn't possible, I wouldn't mind Lantis dating someone else if it was you, Hikaru."

"'I like…both of you," Hikaru said.

Lantis studied their linked hands. "I never stopped caring about Eagle, but I also care for Hikaru."

"Well," Eagle said lightly, "you don't have to choose. This way we can all have what we want."

"I suppose so." Lantis freed his hands and for a second Hikaru thought it was a rejection, but he moved around the table to pull Eagle into a hug.

Eagle caught her eyes. "He tends to hug people after a few drinks."

"I'm not drunk," Lantis said. "I'm relieved."

"Mm." Eagle leaned up to kiss him and Hikaru felt warm. Not in an embarrassed way though. It didn't bother her at all to see them kiss. Eagle crooked a finger and Hikaru went to them. Lantis and Eagle pulled her into the embrace.

Lantis kissed her like he had kissed the first time, gentle and careful. Eagle kissed like it was a challenge, pressing close and inviting her to kiss back. Somehow she ended up on Eagle's lap with one of Lantis and Eagle's arms across her back, their fingers threaded together beneath her shoulder blades. Hikaru wondered if they would mind moving to the couch to lay in one big pile curled up together.

"So we're dating now?" she asked into Eagle's shoulder.

"If we're all for it," Eagle said. "Lantis?"

"Yes." His hold tightened around them. "Yes we are."

*o*O*o*

AN:I am so glad to be posting this chapter. Because I was terrified I wouldn't be able to. Because my computer froze and it took me about 12 hours to get it to work again. And in the meantime I realized I hadn't backed up my files in about 5 weeks. In those 5 weeks I'd finished this fic, and written about 15,000 words of another. So I am very very glad that I am able to past this as I got my computer to cooperate for the moment. Don't worry. The fic is backed up to a flash drive now. The fic is okay.

In other news, Lantis is a canonical drunk hugger and this amuses me to no end.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

 **IN WHICH…**

 **Hikaru is not Emeraude**

"My brothers are coming to visit," Hikaru said from where she was curled up against Lantis's side.

"Oh?" Eagle said from Lantis's other side—he was using Lantis's lap as a footrest as he did his required reading—"Should we be meeting them then?"

Hikaru bit her lip and shook her head. "Hmm, it's probably best not to yet."

"Why?" Both her boyfriends looked at her.

"They're not going to accept you." Hikaru winced. "They might even hate you."

Lantis felt the peace of the lazy afternoon vanish in an instant, replaced with gut churning unease.

"Is there any reason they'd hate us?" Eagle asked, finger marking his spot in his book as he closed it for the moment.

"Not really." Hikaru shrugged before curling up closer to Lantis. Her warmth helped a little. "They'd hate you if you were a saint or a billionaire—they're just really over protective."

"It won't bother you if they don't approve?" Lantis asked. The last time a relationship had failed to get familial approval, Zagato and Emeraude had ended up dead.

"I just said they wouldn't approve of anyone." Hikaru wrinkled her nose. "I could tell them I was dating Fuu and they would go from loving her to wanting to kidnap me home in a second. I want them to like who I choose, but…" she shrugged again. "They're just going to have to learn to like you because I like you and you're not going away."

Tension Lantis had barely noticed rising through his body released. Hikaru was nothing like Emeraude, thankfully. Eagle's foot poked him in the side. Eagle raised an eyebrow. Lantis shook his head. He was fine, crisis averted before it ever had much of a chance to get off the ground.

"It's funny you mention billionaires," Eagle said, taking control of the conversation, "since my family is pretty well off."

"Really?" Hikaru asked.

"Not billionaire level, but most definitely well off." Eagle grinned. "Think that will win me any points with your brothers?"

"Actually, they might wonder what you want with me since all my family has is a tiny dojo."

"Ah, but I could provide for you. And for Lantis of course." He poked Lantis again.

Lantis sighed, pushing Eagle's feet off his lap. "I think I will be able to provide for myself just fine."

"Then I can pay off your student debt." He swung his feet right back into Lantis's lap, wiggling his toes up under Lantis's sweater. "So, if we're not meeting your family now, when are we meeting them?"

"Dunno. I was going to use this visit to get them used to the idea that I'm dating. But maybe I should tell them over the phone?"

"They're probably going to want to meet us," Lantis said.

"Probably." Hikaru sighed and flopped across Lantis's lap and along Eagle's legs. It couldn't be comfortable. "I don't want them to scare you away," she mumbled into Eagle's shins.

Eagle patted her on the head. "We don't scare that easily."

"Masaru and Kakeru are the ones to worry about. They're loud. Satoru listens better so he'll probably accept you first. Once he accepts you, then the others will listen to him after a while."

"And your parents?"

"It's just my dad." She propped her head on her arms. Eagle brushed her bangs out of her face. "He's not home much between teaching at the dojo and taking training trips. Sometimes it feels like Satoru raised us more than he did… But he shouldn't be too much of a problem. You can both use a sword in some way, and that will probably impress him more than anything else would."

There was silence for a moment as they digested that, then Eagle hummed under his breath. "Well, my family doesn't care who I date so long as I'm achieving goals and not causing any scandals. A polyamorous relationship miiiiight be a bit scandalous. Just a bit." Lantis and Hikaru laughed a little and Eagle smiled. "But they can think what they want. I've been making the choices I want for years, and their opinions aren't going to sway me."

"There are no parents to worry about on my end," Lantis said. "They were well off, so I am better off than I could be, but my brother and I were actually raised by Clef."

"Clef as in the business professor Clef?" Hikaru asked, eyes wide.

"Yes?" Lantis was surprised she had heard of him. But then, Cephiro was a small school.

"Umi had a class with him. Now I think she's trying to get him as her advisor?"

"I see."

"It's funny how everyone seems to end up connected to each other here," Eagle said.

"Weird," Hikaru agreed. "…So you do want to meet my brothers?"

Eagle shrugged. "Why not? If they meet us now, that's just more time for them to accept that we exist."

"Lantis?" Hikaru asked.

Lantis couldn't say no with both of them looking at him so earnestly. He did want to meet her family. He just worried about how it going badly could affect their relationship. _Hikaru is not Emeraude_ , he reminded himself. "Fine."

"Thanks."

Lantis smiled back at Hikaru. For all that she had warned them off meeting them, she seemed okay with the idea. That was enough for him to be okay with it. Eagle's feet wiggled where they were trapped under Hikaru's weight.

"This is cozy and all," Eagle said, "but my feet are starting to go to sleep."

"Oops, sorry, Eagle." Hikaru slid off Lantis's lap to squish under Eagle's legs so that she was now wedged between the two of them. "There. That's better."

"You sure?" Eagle teased. "Now we have you trapped."

"Now I get to cuddle with both of you," Hikaru countered.

"Fair enough."

Lantis closed his eyes and found the peace of the moment again, held in Hikaru's warmth and Eagle's weight against him and the sound of their breaths beside him.

 **Fuu reveals the boyfriend**

Ferio was visibly nervous as Fuu led him up to her apartment.

"Are you sure it's okay to just go up?" he asked.

"Of course it's fine," Fuu said patiently. She handed off her bag of groceries to Ferio as she unlocked the door. "Umi-san and Hikaru-san shouldn't even be here yet. And it's my turn to provide the meal, so there will be more than enough food for all four of us."

"It's just, you said these were just roommate days."

"And what better way to have them both in the same place to introduce you properly?" Fuu countered. "Besides, you've already met Umi-san." They left their shoes in the doorway and Ferio trailed her toward the kitchen.

Fuu paused, hearing hissed voices. "Umi-san?" Fuu asked, peeking into the kitchen.

Umi and a pretty dark-skinned girl looked up from attempting to fill cupcake tins guiltily. "Uh. Hey, Fuu, I was making dessert since you were making dinner today, and hey, this is Tarta and she's joining us so…" Umi's eyes trailed a bit further and saw Ferio. "Ah! You!" She pointed, leaving a splash of cake batter across the kitchen floor.

Ferio held both hands up in front of him, groceries swinging from one elbow like an offering. "Woah. Yes?"

Umi ignored him whipping toward Fuu. "I have been asking and joking and trying to talk about who you are dating for more than a month! _You've been dating the hot coffee shop guy the whole time!"_

Fuu smiled. "I never said I wasn't dating him. I just never said that I was either."

"You. You!" Umi looked at Tarta. "Is this fair? I don't think this is fair."

Tarta took the batter covered spoon from Umi's hand before she could spread it anywhere else. "Tragic," she said, straight faced. Tarta gave a little wave to Fuu. "Nice ta finally meet ya proper."

"The same to you as well," Fuu said with a small bow. "Umi-san talks about you enough that I feel I have known you for a while already."

"All good stuff too, hmm?" Tarta smirked at Umi and Umi sputtered and flailed again. "I'm jokin', Hon. Wanna open the oven so these can bake?"

"Right…" Umi took the cupcake tins off her hands. "We'll just…clean off the counter so you can start dinner."

"The dessert is much appreciated, Umi-san."

"So…" Ferio stepped around them to put the groceries down. "I guess we'll make dinner?"

"You're helping?" Umi asked. She was up to her elbows in soapy water already.

"I can use a knife. And follow a recipe. I live on my own."

"Huh. The more you know." Umi went back to washing. "The more I talk to you, the less you're that weird guy who insulted a high end bakery lady in ratty sweatpants looking like you had a teen rebellion problem."

"Thanks," Ferio said drily.

Fuu laughed. "Come on then," she said. "Let's cook."

By the time Hikaru arrived, Umi and Tarta had left a dozen cupcakes on the counter to cool and dinner was almost done. Ferio was washing the used dishes as Fuu finished up the last minute seasoning to the hearty, creamy soup while she waited for the quick bread rolls to be done in the oven.

Hikaru blinked at them and leaned out to look at where Umi and Tarta were setting the table. "I didn't know we were bringing guests this week."

"Actually, it turned into meet the significant other day," Umi said, snorting. "Fuu's been hiding a boyfriend the whole time, can you believe it?"

"Oh." Hikaru tilted her head to the side. "Should I be inviting someone too?"

Umi laughed. "Nah, I mean you're not dating anyone."

"Actually, I am."

"Eh?"

Fuu stopped cooking, equally surprised.

"Who?!" Umi demanded. "When? Why haven't you mentioned them?"

"Umi, I mention them all the time," Hikaru said. "I talked about Lantis yesterday and I said I was going to have lunch with Eagle this morning."

"I thought you were talking about as friends! Dating was never mentioned!"

"Breathe," Tarta muttered.

Umi shot her a scowl. "What the hell, Hikaru?"

"Wait, Lantis?" Ferio asked, peeking out of the kitchen. "You're who Lantis is dating?"

"Lantis and Eagle," Hikaru confirmed.

"Woah, you're dating two guys?!" Umi sputtered.

"Oh my," Fuu said. Though that did explain how often Hikaru talked about them.

"And they're dating each other too," Hikaru said.

"And that works?" Tarta asked.

"It is so far. And we all like each other so it makes sense."

Umi sank into one of the chairs. "I feel like my entire world view has been rocked on its axis. Even Hikaru is dating. How is sweet, innocent Hikaru the most deviant out of all of us?"

"I'm not _that_ innocent, Umi," Hikaru said. "I have three older brothers."

"Stop! My image of you is being corrupted!"

Hikaru looked at Fuu. Fuu shook her head. Umi would be Umi. "We would both love to meet your boyfriends officially, Hikaru," Fuu said.

"I'll have to bring them over sometime then." Hikaru said. "Hopefully they'll both be free sometime soon."

"Isn't Eagle your tutor though?" Umi said.

"That's Geo, his roommate. Eagle's a TA for science classes."

Fuu left Hikaru to Umi's interrogation to finish up in the kitchen. Ferio was pulling the rolls from the oven, still looking a bit shell shocked.

"I am having so much trouble picturing Lantis dating two people. I mean, I knew he was dating someone as he asked to switch shifts once for a date but…" Ferio shook his head.

"He doesn't seem the type," Fuu agreed. He seemed far too reserved to date two people. But then Hikaru didn't seem the type either. She looked happy enough though. "Well…" She gathered up the soup pot while Ferio got the salad and rolls. "I suppose meeting my roommates has gotten pushed into the background."

"Probably better this way," Ferio said. "No one's interrogating me."

"Umi's the only one who would do that and she already knows you."

"Yeah, but she doesn't know much about _us_."

"Ah." Fuu considered that. There was a high likelihood that she would be the one interrogated later.

They walked in to Umi saying, "Wait, I just remembered, didn't Lantis whack you in the face when you first met?"

"For the last time, it was an accident!"

Ferio raised an eyebrow at Fuu. She kept walking serenely. Ferio would learn fairly quickly that this was pretty normal when they were all together.

 **Ferio is a romantic**

He'd cleaned his tiny apartment twice, arranging and rearranging things to make it look a bit nicer and a bit less like he was the kind of guy that inevitably collected a weird mishmash of things (swords, three sets of juggling balls, knickknacks from friends' travels, photographs kept in envelopes rather than frames, a few mirrors from Caldina, an old video game system, secondhand television, about two dozen large, bright feathers left over from a Halloween costume a few years back, and a box that his sister had given him. The rings inside that he thought about a lot more than he should considering how little time he had been dating Fuu.)

Ferio had bought flowers—not roses, those were a bit too expensive with his budget—but the cheerful yellow and white flowers on his tiny table made it look a little nicer. He couldn't afford a fancy restaurant these days, but he could turn a sheet into a passable tablecloth, buy flowers and a candle or two, and cook a nice meal. His apartment was tiny, but if he considered it, the small space could be intimate rather than cramped. His couch was comfortable and covered with a patterned blanket so that stains that had been there when he got it second hand wouldn't be noticeable. He had a movie lined up, dinner in the oven, everything as clean and neat as could be. His bedroom door was firmly closed because it was not _that_ sort of date and, he thought feeling a little flustered, he really didn't want to make Fuu feel uncomfortable or anything. He'd been to her apartment a half a dozen times now, but this was the first time he had invited Fuu back to his. It was their three month anniversary and he was so nervous.

Ferio checked the fish in the oven again—almost done, not burnt, smelled quite nice with the lemon-herb mixture he'd put it in with—and tried to calm down. It was a little ridiculous to get nervous about a date when you'd been dating someone for months. And Fuu wasn't nitpicky. Maybe it was all a bit too cliché romantic setting. He just wanted it to _be_ romantic, and his tiny apartment wasn't really a romantic setting on an average day.

A knock came on the door and he jolted upright. Calm down. Calm down, everything was as perfect as it was getting.

Fuu's cheeks were flushed from the cold, a bit of snow glinting in her hair. It was snowing lightly, just a glittering here and there of flakes. She smiled at him and Ferio felt the nerves bubble up to the surface. "Hey," he said. "Right on time."

"I would hope so," Fuu replied. She stepped in and Ferio took her coat. "Ah," she said and he turned to see that her glasses had fogged up completely. "I would say you have a lovely apartment, but it seems I can't see it."

All the tension leading up to now broke in a wave of giggles. He plucked her glasses off her face, wiping them clean before he returned them. He couldn't help smiling as she blinked at him. "There, that better?"

"Much." She smiled. "You look nice."

Ferio stopped himself from tugging at the button down shirt he'd changed into for the occasion. "You do too." She had on a warm looking sweater that was a bit more form fitting than what she usually wore and a long, soft looking skirt. She looked huggable. He looked away, blushing, before his hands could act on their own and do something like touch her skirt to see if it was as soft as it looked. "So, welcome to my home."

Fuu took in the room, her eyes lingered on the string of lights in the living room part of the room and on the candles he'd lit in the kitchen-dining side. Everything was fairly dimly lit, but he'd moved and moved things again until the light looked inviting rather than eye straining.

"In this corner, we have a dinner for two," he said, calling up confidence. He waved to the table and its settings. "Followed by a retreat to the entertainment center to enjoy a private viewing of a film of your choice." He indicated the couch facing the television and the DVDs he'd placed in front of it.

"Entertainment center," Fuu repeated, eyes glinting with good humor.

"It sounded better than saying an old couch."

Fuu laughed and leaned up to give him a kiss on the cheek. "It looks lovely."

"I'm glad." He grinned at her for a moment before he remembered the fish in the oven. "Ah, shoot, dinner. Uh, make yourself comfortable?"

"Anything I can help with?" Fuu asked.

"Dinner's almost done—you do like fish right?" He had a moment of panic before he realized he was being ridiculous. Fuu had ordered fish out on one of their few restaurant dates.

"I like fish," Fuu said. She stood next to Ferio's tiny kitchen table, looking at one of the paper napkins he'd folded into triangles for a fancier effect. "I'm sure I will enjoy pretty much anything you made, Ferio."

He pulled the fish from the oven and the foil packet of vegetables that had been roasting beside it. There was rice to go with it, and tea to drink—Fuu's favorite from Escudo. He started arranging things on plates only to bump elbows with Fuu as she dished out rice into bowls.

"I'd feel a bit silly standing and letting you do everything," she said, whisking the bowls to the table. "And it all looks delicious. There's no reason to look so nervous."

"Yeah." There wasn't, was there? He was more than a little in love with Fuu and all signs pointed to her feeling the same.

The fish went over well, the vegetables were a bit overdone, but Fuu seemed to like the flowers and the candles. The cheesecake for dessert—one of Lafarga's recipes and Ferio was proud to say he'd managed it just as well on his own even with his poorer oven—also went over well and Ferio's face was starting to hurt from smiling as they moved onto the movie. An action film unexpectedly, rather than a romantic one. His couch was small and Fuu was warm against his side. She curled up against him under one of his arms and it felt like the most natural thing in the world to curl back toward her as the film started.

It was probably a good thing that it was a film he'd seen a lot of times because he kept losing focus whenever Fuu shifted or when he glanced down and took in her expression. They could have just been sitting and doing nothing but cuddling up close like this and Ferio would have been happy.

The movie was almost over when the lights flickered and went out, the TV black as well. It was a good thing he had left the candles burning because they were the only light left in the room.

"Oh dear," Fuu said. "Do power outages happen often around here?"

Ferio straightened, pulling his arm free. So much for the movie. "From time to time. Usually only when the weather gets really bad though." He walked over to the window, tried to lookout, but only saw his reflection with wavery candle light behind him. He tried the door with more success. A gust of wind and snow crashed into him the second he opened it up. What had been a peaceful silver dusting had turned into thick, heavy snowfall and looked to be gearing up toward a proper storm. He closed the door before any more cold and snow could invade the warm bubble of his apartment.

"Well that's not good," Fuu said behind him.

"…I could try to walk you home?" Ferio said though it didn't look like a good idea to go out in that.

"I think we'd have a higher likelihood of getting lost than getting back to my apartment," Fuu said.

"…you can have my bed, I'll take the couch. Probably safer to stay inside anyway."

"I'm not going to kick you out of your own bed," Fuu said. "If you don't mind, we could share…?"

"Uh." Ferio felt a blush growing. He wasn't going to suggest that but if _Fuu_ had suggested it…

"Only sleeping of course," Fuu said with a hint of mischief in her voice. "I'm not sure I'm ready for more than that."

"Of course!" Ferio waved his hands like that could get images of Fuu in his bed out of his mind. "I'm not either!" Yeah, not if he was getting this flustered just thinking about it. It would be really really short if they did try anything and aaah, he was going to just kick those thoughts to the side.

Fuu snickered. Ferio hid his face in his hands.

"I'm supposed to be the one who flirts while you get flustered," he muttered into his palms.

"I think I like that expression on you though," Fuu said. She pulled his hands away from his face and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "So, since our lovely movie date has had an abrupt end, we might as well get comfortable for the night. Show me your room?"

"Oh crap, I barely cleaned my bedroom," Ferio blurted. He'd been obsessive about everywhere but there.

Fuu laughed and let him dash off to try and make it a little more presentable before letting her sleep with him. (Fresh sheets! He had to have a set of fresh sheets somewhere!)

A while later, with Fuu warm and breathing and there in bed next to him, Ferio wasn't sure if this was the best possible way to end the date or maybe the most masochistic way. He was torn between wanting to reach out and to not cross boundaries too far. Thankfully Fuu made up that dilemma for him by turning and snuggling close. He could smell her shampoo.

"You're thinking too hard about this," Fuu teased.

"I'm amazed you're so calm."

"Mm." She snuggled closer and Ferio's breath caught. He would feel really embarrassed if he reacted to this right now. "I'm a bit nervous, but I'm with you so that makes it better. I'm looking forward to seeing you in the morning though."

Fuu would be there in the morning. He couldn't help laughing a little at that because, where else would she be? But that was nice. This was nice. He relaxed against her and the quiet sound of her breathing and the occasional whistle of wind in the tiny crevices of his apartment building were the only things he could hear. Like the bed was a bubble and they were the only two people in the world. Ferio closed his eyes.

Just before he drifted off, he heard Fuu whisper, "Happy three months, Ferio."

He fell asleep with a smile.

And Fuu was there when he woke up.

 **For once the only crisis is school work**  
Umi was halfway through an essay. Tarta was by her side cramming for a math final, Fuu had a pile of notecards she was methodically flipping through, and Hikaru had too many books around her that she was flipping through with frantic energy. That was all well and good. What had had Umi's temper ticking up over the last hour was everyone else in the room.

Umi slammed down her pen as the muttering from the back of the room became too much. "Okay, what the hell is everyone using our apartment for finals?!"

"I'm trying to spend time with Fuu," Ferio said from his study spot on the couch.

"Same for us," Eagle said nodding toward Lantis. He smiled in Hikaru's direction.

"Ok," Umi said, "that's you. That doesn't explain them." She flung an arm at Geo on the other end of the couch, Ascot crosslegged in the corner, and Zazu muttering to himself as he hammered away on a laptop computer. "And why is Hikaru wearing that weird cosplay dress again?"

"She's my muse," Zazu said, breaking off muttering to take a glug of an energy drink.

"Hikaru, I thought we had a conversation about creepy requests from people," Umi said.

"It's comfortable and I don't mind," Hikaru said, pausing her reading.

"She looks cute," Eagle added.

Umi sent him a glare. He looked like the type that was probably into some weird, fetish costume roleplay or something. Someone had to protect Hikaru from that shit. Lantis was pretending not to notice any of them, typing out an essay at an impressive speed on Hikaru's laptop. Umi kind of hated people who could focus through anything. "You still haven't explained why you're here," she said through gritted teeth to the rest of the room.

"Someone has to watch Eagle and Zazu," Geo said. He wasn't even studying. Instead, he was knitting of all things. "I'm here for when they eventually crash."

"You're so sure we'll crash," Eagle said.

Geo gave him an unimpressed stare. "You always crash. Now whether it's three days into a study bender or not," he gave Zazu a similar look, "tends to vary, but you'll crash. And then someone will have to cart your ass home."

Umi gave up on them and looked at Ascot. His face went red at being put on the spot, and he held up a notebook like it could shield him from her wrath. "I…It was too quiet on my own? Ferio was studying here so I tagged along? I can leave if it's a problem!"

And now Umi felt like she'd kicked a puppy. Great. Umi groaned and wandered back over to her chair to flop back into it. Tarta patted her absently.

"Fine. You all stay. Apparently our apartment is the newest greatest study party. Whoopee." Freeloaders. She looked back at her essay notes and realized she didn't remember where she'd been going with her argument at all. Her life was suffering.

Zazu was still muttering forty nine minutes later, until he suddenly wasn't and there was a soft thunk from his corner.

"Called it," Geo said.

Yeah, if this became a regular thing, Umi was going to demand people bring tribute of coffee, junk food, and booze. The holy trinity that made struggling through finals possible.

o*O*o

 _AN: just epilogue and extras left guys. Almost there! Thanks for reading so far :)_


	10. Chapter 10

**Epilogue: In which there are various plans for the future and potential engagements**

It was hard to believe, Fuu thought as she packed up her book shelf, that a few short years ago she had just moved into this apartment. Now with graduation around the corner, time seemed to have gone so much faster than four years should have.

"Hey Fuu," Umi said, poking her head into the bedroom. She held up an armful of kitchen supplies. "Are any of these yours? They're not mine."

"They're not mine," Fuu said, eying the bowls, mug and miscellaneous utensils. "Although I believe the mug might be Ferio's."

"Shoot." Umi looked down at the stuff. "I hadn't even thought that it might belong to someone outside the apartment."

"Check with Hikaru," Fuu advised. "She might know if it's from Eagle's apartment or not."

"Thanks." Umi hesitated. "Hey Fuu? What are your plans after graduation? I mean, you know I'm heading with Tarta to visit her sister for a while but after?" She shrugged.

"I imagine I'll be enjoying a brief week or two before my internship, then be back at Cephiro for graduate school."

"Gonna enjoy that time with Ferio?" Umi teased.

"Maybe." Fuu smiled. They both knew she planned to live with him once graduate school started up. "Or maybe I'll spend a bit of time by myself for a change."

"Uh huh," Umi said, not buying it. "And how's your other half?"

"Still job hunting." Ferio had graduated the year before and had been doing an internship for a few months, but beyond that was still trying to find a foot in the door of the professional world. He still had his job at Escudo to fall back on at least. "He has an interview Friday."

"Nice." Umi leaned forward, grin on her face. "So…when're you gonna make your lovey dovey married couple act real, huh? Are you going to propose to him since he's holding out?"

Fuu gave Umi her best inscrutable smile. "What makes you think he hasn't proposed already?"

Umi's jaw dropped. "Fuu! You had better just be joking because that's not the kind of thing you don't tell friends!"

Fuu kept smiling.

"Hikaru!" Umi stomped away toward the kitchen. "Fuu's keeping secrets again! Fuu, are you engaged or not?"

"Ask Ferio," Fuu called back.

"Is this another thing we're supposed to tell each other about?" Hikaru said.

"Hikaru, so help me, if you turn out to be engaged too, I'm going to be really annoyed," Umi growled.

"Well, you can't marry three people legally so no? But if you could, Lantis definitely brought the topic up a while back."

"God dammit."

Fuu laughed over her box of books. Good for Hikaru. Ah. She was going to miss this. Umi had been applying for an internship with a company her family owned, Hikaru was graduating with a degree in early child education and was hoping to start a daycare with Lantis… They would all be heading to their own directions. It was a little bit lonely.

"Ah, Fuu!" Hikaru called. "Ferio's at the door!"

Fuu left her books behind, shaking her head. "You're early," she said to Ferio.

He pulled her into a hug, lingering chill from the early spring weather clinging to him giving her goosebumps. Fuu glanced down at the necklace tucked in his clothes like she wore; if Umi knew how long Fuu hadn't mentioned being engaged… "I figured I could help you pack a bit. Or we could head out early if you're getting sick of packing."

"Mm." Fuu hugged him back. "Well, I suppose I could use an extra pair of eyes to see if anything belongs to you or one of your friends. We seem to be finding a lot of things that don't belong to any of us. And maybe some help moving some stuff."

"Since some of it's moving into my apartment, I am pretty sure that's the least I can do," Ferio joked.

After a bit of going through random objects (most of which Ferio was fairly certain belonged to someone from Eagle's apartment since both Eagle and Zazu tended to be the ones to leave their belongings in random places or leave with someone else's things), they left behind Umi and Hikaru to their packing.

Fuu was glad for the break—and even more relieved to leave when she did because Umi seemed to be gearing up to talk about sex lives, and that was something Fuu always felt a little uncomfortable about. It was that or try to interrogate Ferio on Fuu's engagement status. She was more than happy to link arms with Ferio and hurry out the door.

It was a crisp spring day and Fuu felt light just breathing in the fresh air and seeing the first bright green hints of life poking out here and there. The cherry blossoms would bloom soon. She'd always liked spring.

"It feels a little unreal," Ferio said as they walked along. "It felt like that to me when I graduated."

"It does," Fuu agreed. "It's going to be a lot harder to keep in touch with everyone."

"You'll make it work." His hand squeezed hers. Their shoulders brushed with each step, comfortably in synch with each other. "You guys are too close not to."

"I hope so." It was a thing she worried about, but in truth it was a small worry compare to how she looked forward to seeing what paths they took from here. All the friends she had made here had promising paths ahead of them. It would be a privilege to watch that unfold. And she had her own life ahead of her, her own goals she was reaching and making, and she wouldn't be alone on that journey.

Impulsively, she leaned up and kissed Ferio's cheek.

He laughed. "What was that for?"

"I'm glad you're here," Fuu said.

"I don't plan on going anywhere."

"I know." She touched the chain around her neck. "So, it might be time to tell our friends we're engaged."

Ferio's face went red. "I thought we weren't officially engaged until I saved up for a ring that actually fit?"

"You gave me a ring two years ago," Fuu said, amused. "I've considered that official enough." Ferio's sister's rings had been beautiful. Unfortunately they hadn't fit either of them, something they'd both laughed over at a later date. Fuu knew how much they meant to him though. "Besides, I looked into getting rings resized…"

Ferio almost stepped out of time with her, catching himself last minute. "You mean it?"

"Of course. The rings are important. Perhaps hold off on the actual wedding until we can afford a pair of rings to compliment your sister's rings though," she said.

"I love you," Ferio said.

"I love you too."

"Caldina's going to be mad at us before crying on us in happiness."

"Umi will likely be the same." Oh well, they had expected the others to be annoyed with keeping it a secret.

"Think Lafarga will bake our wedding cake?"

Fuu giggled. "I think he would be insulted if we went to anyone else."

"How do you think your family will feel?"

"They like you," Fuu said, "so they will be glad. They're going to want to marry us off before the summer is over though." Her parents did care about propriety a bit more than she did when all was said and done.

"Is it bad that I hadn't thought about the social implications of you moving in?"

"Not at all." Fuu had thought them over and decided she didn't care. And it had felt like a perfectly natural step by this point; society could think what they wanted, Fuu knew exactly where she stood in all of it.

"Want to head to Escudo for a bit? Lantis sent some ideas for a new tea and Lafarga just made a new lemon-ginger cookie to taste test."

Fuu smiled. "That sounds lovely."

There was all the time in the world to let things fall into place. She knew what she wanted and she would make it happen. And along the way, she would enjoy every moment she could with the people she cared for by her side.

 **EXTRAS**

 **Umi has Ferio's phone number too…**

A week after writing his number down for Fuu, Ferio got a message from an unknown number. _So on a scale of 1-10 wheres Fuu?_

He stared at it for a while. _Who is this?_

 _Answer the question_

Okay? _What are the guidelines of the scale? I mean she's really cute? She's confident? She looks really nice when she smiles? I don't know her well enough to say. 8.5? A 9? Seriously, who is this?_

 _Ding ding earning yourself roomie brownie points,_ was the response, and Ferio connected the dots. He'd given Fuu his number _through her friend_ , who, it seemed, was also her roommate. _This is Umi,_ came a few seconds later.

Ferio sent back _Okay_ , for lack of a better response and hoped that would be the last of it.

It wasn't of course.

The texts came infrequently, seemingly off the top of Umi's head. One asking about the desserts at Escudo that week, an observation about Fuu's tea consumption, a complaint about a paper, or the occasional prying question that was usually followed by Umi taunting—or teasing, it was a bit unclear—him about his crush on Fuu.

He didn't reply to all of them. It was one of the weirder acquaintanceships he'd had, but Ferio replied to enough of them that he could call it something like a friendship as weeks went on.

 _Have you asked Fuu out yet,_ was a common text, to which Ferio almost always replied with _stop asking that_. As he got closer to Fuu, he really wasn't sure whether those questions were teasing or not. And then the pictures started.

The text _So is she a 10?_ came with an attached picture of Fuu in an airy sundress, smiling at the camera. Ferio had to set his phone down and walk away because he hadn't been prepared for that at all. He stubbornly refused to answer the question. (He definitely saved the photo though. He felt only mildly guilty about that.)

From that point on, Umi sent a picture of Fuu every now and again. Ferio was pretty sure she was trying to set them up at that point. Funnily enough, he'd already gone on a date with Fuu by the third picture.

By the fifth one (Fuu in pajamas, clearly working on homework), Ferio went to Fuu. "Do your roommates know we're dating?" he asked.

"I haven't told them," Fuu said. "It's mostly because I'm not ready to talk about my dating life yet, but Umi's fishing for information is amusing too."

"I think Umi's trying to set us up."

Fuu laughed. "She is. Mostly so she can tease me about my romantic life like I tease her."

Ferio rubbed the back of his head. "Huh." He held out his phone. "So she might have sent me a few pictures of you."

Fuu took it, flipped through them. (He'd saved them all. He was weak.) She raised an eyebrow at them before handing the phone back. "Well, at least none of them are embarrassing photos."

"…You're not mad that I kept them?"

"I admit that I am a little annoyed that Umi sent them, but I'm not going to get upset over it since we are dating." She pursed her lips. "I will have to plan some sort of retribution for it though. I'll have to get Tarta's number and respond in kind."

Ferio laughed. (If Umi had asked him again where Fuu ranked on a scale, he'd have said a ten that day.)

The week after Ferio and Fuu finally went public with their relationship, Ferio took the first photo to send back to Umi; Fuu wearing one of his old sweatshirts over her clothes, curled up on his couch where she'd nodded off while studying.

He saved the picture on his phone along with the dozens of others.

 _Cute_ Umi sent back.

 _I know._ Ferio added, _Definitely 10/10 ;)_

 **Brothers happen**

"So, these are my boyfriends! Lantis," Hikaru waved a hand, "and Eagle."

"What." "What?!" Masaru and Kakeru said at the same time. Satoru didn't say anything at all, though he did look surprised.

"Pleasure to meet you," Eagle said, charming public face in place. "Hikaru's told us so much about you."

"She's never mentioned you!" Kakeru said, pointing rudely. "Either of you!"

"Two boyfriends, Hikaru?" Satoru said.

"Well, Eagle liked Lantis and Lantis liked me and Eagle and I liked Eagle and Lantis, and Eagle turned out to like me too, so it just made more sense this way you know?"

Lantis studied Satoru's polite expression and was quite sure that he was almost as shocked and alarmed as his brothers, just better at hiding it.

"I see." Satoru nodded to each of them before clamping hands over his younger brothers' mouths before their freak out could reach any louder volume. "Pleasure to meet you. Would you mind allowing us a moment to talk to our sister alone?"

"Go right ahead!" Eagle said, still beaming out polite cheerfulness at alarming levels. He and Lantis watched the door shut, cutting them off from Hikaru. Eagle dropped the cheer immediately as voices started exploding on the other side. "Well. That could have gone better."

"Actually, I was expecting worse. No one tried to punch us yet."

"Point."

Hikaru's voice cut over the others demanding they sit down and listen.

"Shouldn't we be there supporting her?" Eagle muttered.

The voices cut out to reasonable sound levels, words now indistinguishable. "Actually, I think she has this covered. And she's their little sister; they're not going to stay upset when it's clear that she's serious."

"Hmm, a little sibling thing then, eh? Know that from experience?" The teasing was gentle as Eagle always was more careful when skirting around Zagato's memory.

"More or less."

The door opened again to two sulking younger brothers, a still-smiling-politely older brother, and Hikaru, who looked frustrated but satisfied. "Satoru-nii is taking us out to dinner," she announced.

Her oldest brother situated himself next to Eagle even as the younger two all but closed rank around Hikaru. "So," Satoru said, "tell me about yourselves."

Lantis hoped dinner went fast.

 **Geo talks**

It was halfway through an evening with Geo that Eagle fell asleep. It started with him leaning against Lantis's side, warm and familiar enough a thing that Lantis didn't think anything of it. It was only when Eagle's head abruptly slumped against his shoulder that Lantis even realized Eagle was asleep.

"There he goes," Geo sighed. "I thought he looked tired today."

"Does this happen often?" It never used to happen. Eagle was always the one awake and alert since he liked watching people.

"It has lately." Geo rubbed a hand through his hair. "How much has Eagle told you about the time before we moved here?"

"Not much."

Geo sighed. "Look, he doesn't really want us talking about it, but I think you should know." He met Lantis's eyes. "I'm laying it out here. After you left, Eagle's health went downhill. He was dying, actually, and the only reason Zazu and I knew anything about it was because Eagle fell asleep on top of test results." Geo sighed again. "He's better now. It's kind of a miracle; the doctors didn't think he was going to live through the year. "

"That bad..."

"Don't think he wanted ever say how bad it was. Anyway, the sleeping thing is left as a side effect. He just gets run down more."

Lantis felt a bit guilty for being angry at Eagle when they finally met up again now. "You're sure he's better?"

"Yeah. I go with him to the doctor since he finally fessed up. He just has shit health left over."

Lantis touched Eagle's face. Thank God that he had lived through that. Eagle shifted into the touch before tensing. He jerked upright.

"How long was I asleep?"

"Not even fifteen minutes," Geo said.

Eagle narrowed his eyes. Geo took a step back nervously. "You told him didn't you."

"Uh..."

"Relax," Lantis said. He tugged Eagle back against him. "You should have told me."

Eagle frowned. "It would have been better if you didn't know if I died then. And after it didn't matter. "

"I'd have cared, Eagle."

"Of course, but it hurts less when you're angry at someone."

Lantis shook his head. That would have been worse for all the regrets he would have had. "I'm glad you're here. Alive."

"Glad to be here," Eagle said leaning back against him.

"And that's my cue to leave," Geo muttered.

Eagle and Lantis glanced at each other, then at Geo. "You say that like you've ever actually walked in on something intimate with us," Eagle said laughing.

"There's a first time for everything and I am not taking chances."

Eagle laughed and kissed Lantis dramatically on the cheek as Geo hurried from the room. "We'll have to mess with him sometime," he said still snickering.

"I believe we had a similar conversation once and it ended with me saying I was not into voyeurism. "

"More's the pity," Eagle said with a sigh. He tilted his head, considering.

"What?" Lantis asked.

"Well we are in a relationship with a third person. Would you be against it if it was Hikaru?"

Lantis opened his mouth, closed it. His cheeks felt hot. "Don't. "

"That's a no!" Eagle sing songs.

"Eagle."

"So you do have a kinky side after all."

"You would know. "

Eagle laughed once more, softly, before curling back up against Lantis's side. "Yup. So, about scandalizing Geo..."

"No."

Eagle smirked, but let the subject drop.

Lantis breathed with him, enjoying the warmth that only another person could bring. "Tell me about your illness sometime?" he asked after a few moments.

"Sometime," Eagle conceded. And that was enough.

 **Umi. Stop.**

"So who's better in bed, Lantis or Eagle?"

Fuu gave Umi a disappointed look.

"What? They're both attractive guys and I'm curious."

Hikaru, unfazed by any of Umi's lines of questions by this point, shrugged. "Dunno."

"…You're telling me you've been dating almost four years now and you haven't slept with either of them?" Umi gaped. "You've spent the night. Hell, even Fuu's spent the night with her boyfriend and you know it can't be all innocent."

Fuu whapped Umi with the nearest book. She'd appreciate _not_ having her sex life speculated about.

"There's more to a relationship than sex, Umi," Hikaru said.

"Well yeah, but… _Four years_."

 **B-W-D**

"Bed, wed, dead: Lantis, Eagle or Geo?" Tarta asked.

"Pff, that's an easy one," Umi said. "Bed Lantis because he's hot, Marry Geo because he's marry material, and kill Eagle because any other option would probably lead to wanting to kill him." She grinned. "Now you. Hmm, Fuu, Ascot or Zazu?"

"Really?" Tarta rolled her eyes. "Ugh. Fine. Marry the kid cuz he's too sweet to mess with, sleep with Fuu because she's hot, 'nd kill Zazu because he's an annoyin' pervy brat." Tarta flicked Umi's arm. "Don't think I don't notice ya pullin' weird shit on me."

"Well we have such a narrow pool of people we both know."

"Eh. Fine. Lessee…" Tarta grinned. "Okay, Fuu, Hikaru n' me."

"You didn't."

Tarta kept grinning.

"Ugh, fine. Marry Hikaru because who could go with fuck or kill with her? F you—literally and figuratively, _dear_ —because if I chose kill, you'd kill me, and kill Fuu. Poor Fuu."

Tarta snickered. "Bitch. I'm not marry material?"

"Be glad you escaped a cruel fate." Umi stuck her tongue out, rolling onto her stomach. "Hmm. Clef, Zazu, Eagle."

"I hate ya."

"You pull an evil card, I pull one right back," Umi said gleefully.

"Fiiiine. Marry Eagle, bed Clef," she made a grossed out face, "and kill the shrimp. Cuz he's still worse n' the rest."

To be fair they'd had a pretty awful first meeting. All around, Umi wasn't too fond of the guy either. "Fair enough."

"Clef, me, and Ascot," Tarta said, looking too pleased with herself. Umi should never have admitted finding Clef hot. Or mentioned that Ascot was cute now that he wasn't a little kid anymore.

"Marry Ascot, sleep with Clef, and oops, guess you're dead."

"You shit." Tarta rolled on top of her, tickling mercilessly. Umi shrieked and flailed before trying to tickle back. They wrestled back and forth until they fell off the bed in a tangle of limbs.

"Ouch," Umi said from the bottom of the heap. They'd taken half the blankets with them at least.

"I call a truce."

"Seconded."

"Still can't believe ya'd sleep with Clef over me, what the hell."

Umi burst into giggles and didn't stop until Tarta kissed her just to make her stop.

 **Clef appears**

"You should be right on track to graduate on time," Clef said, flipping through Umi's paperwork. "There's just one more class requirement for your major to fill next semester, and two more if you still intend to get that communications minor. And I see that you've already picked classes that fill those slots, so that isn't a problem."

"Great," Umi said across from him. She took her class registration papers back, relieved that she hadn't forgotten anything. Her fingers brushed against Clef's, but he didn't seem to notice. He never seemed to notice anything that could be less than strictly professional. If she was honest, it was something Umi liked and hated about him at the same time. Almost two and a half years of him as her advisor and he'd been supportive and given great advice and never once given any indication that he noticed or reciprocated the crush she had on him. It wasn't like she expected anything to come of it, but still… Ouch.

"Have you given any more thought about after graduation?" Clef asked, like he usually asked after she came to him for advice.

"Still considering an internship with my family's company to get a feel for things," Umi said. She shrugged. "I'll probably just work there eventually."

"So you've said." Clef frowned in that way he had that only used his eyebrows. "Is that what you want to do though?" he asked. He hadn't asked before, just accepted her vague thoughts about her future. "You said it's what your parents are expecting, but what do you want?"

"I don't know," Umi admitted. She didn't have a goal like Fuu, or idealized dreams like Hikaru did. Umi supposed she didn't even have Tarta's driving familial loyalty either. Her future, much like most of her life, was likely to be yet another transition into a role her parents expected of her and she'd never minded that. She knew they would have supported her if she did have some dream to follow, and since she didn't, it was enough to follow their dreams for her.

"Think about it," Clef said. He smiled, a smile she used to think he wasn't capable of because he was always so serious when he taught. "You have a lot of potential. You should use it on what you want from your life."

Umi felt her face go warm. He was sparing with his compliments, but always sincere when he gave them.

"I'll write you a recommendation for anywhere you choose to go; your family's company or somewhere else entirely," Clef said. "Just let me know what you end up deciding."

"…Thank you," Umi said. She was probably always going to have a crush on him. Even if he was almost twice her age and shorter than she was. He kept pictures of his cats on his desk along with pictures past students had sent along on a cork board on the wall. He had a collection of intricate metal sculptures on his bookshelf that had Presea's handiwork all over them. He'd talked Umi through her indecision over her minor and calmed her down when she had almost failed one of her general requirements her second year. He'd given her group work in every class she'd been in that he taught, but Umi felt like she might actually be able to handle a cooperative business setting because of it. It had been a stupid, foundationless crush at first, but years later Umi couldn't say she felt any self-consciousness for falling for him. The more she'd gotten to know him, the more inevitable it had felt.

"If you need to talk about anything, you know my office hours," Clef said.

Umi nodded.

She'd take him up on that. It was a one-sided crush, but she couldn't help turning to him sometimes.

 **Pet Sitting**

There was something that didn't belong in the apartment. Umi stared down the hell rabbit where it sat on Hikaru's lap, its fuzzy nose twitching away.

"Hikaru, what the hell is this this thing doing here?" Umi asked. She mentally congratulated herself at keeping her voice level and not shrieking at the sight of Presea's pet taking up residence in Umi's refuge.

"Presea had a conference to go to for a few days, so I offered to watch Mokona." Hikaru smiled, pulling the fluff ball onto its hind legs to better get to its belly fur. Umi could swear the rabbit was grinning at her. "Normally she has a pet sitter, but her usual person's not in town this week."

"She couldn't just take it with her?" Umi grumbled.

"She's taking a plane. It would be awfully traumatic to put a rabbit on a plane for a couple days of travel," Hikaru said. She petted the monstrosity like it was the cutest thing ever. Umi glared at the rabbit.

The rabbit wiggled free of Hikaru and hopped over to flop on Umi's feet like it liked to do in Presea's office.

"Aww, he remembers you, Umi-chan," Hikaru said.

"Ugh." She nudged the rabbit off her feet and backed away toward the kitchen. "Fine, so we have the fur ball here for a few days. Just keep it away from me and it's all good."

"But Mokona likes you, Umi-chan." Hikaru bent down and made one of Mokona's paws wave in her direction. It was both disturbing and unfairly cute.

"How's Fuu taking this?"

"I have no problem with Hikaru-san pet sitting," Fuu's voice came from the other room. Umi jumped, not realizing she was home. Fuu peeked around the corner with a smile. "Besides, Sir Mokona is a nice rabbit."

"'Sir?'" Umi said skeptically.

Fuu giggled. "I think it suits him."

"Uuugh." The rabbit tried to follow her again and Umi decided the best course of action was to retreat. It was only for a few days. She could manage a few days, right?

o*o

Umi was less okay when she learned 'a few days' was a week and a half, and that Mokona had the habit of dragging papers off things and nibbling on them. He also had the really creepy habit of staring whenever she was in the room, or following her, or—as one memorable time happened—appearing right outside the bathroom door in the middle of the night with his eyes reflecting the light eerily.

Umi was calling in the towel and going back to the apartment as little as possible.

"I don't get what the problem is," Tarta said when Umi declared she was sleeping over the second night in a row. "It's a bunny."

"A bunny from hell," Umi said.

"A bunny," Tarta repeated. "How the hell're ya scared of a fluffy bunny?"

"It stares like it sees into your soul and is judging you for every time you forgot to change the toilet paper rolls or you made shit up for an essay to increase the word count. It's like it _knows_."

"Uh huh."

Umi pouted at Tarta until Tarta rolled her eyes and squished Umi's cheeks between her palms.

"Hon, I love you, but ya have a problem."

"Just trust me, the bunny's evil," Umi said, a little slurred from Tarta's hands.

"Need a distraction?" Tarta asked, amused.

"Please."

Tarta was still laughing at her when she kissed her, but that was okay since she was letting Umi spend the night rather than going back to have the rabbit staring at her again.

o*o

Hikaru was out, Fuu was on a date, it was just Umi stuck braving the bunny to get some of her books and a change of clothes.

She found Mokona in a shredded mess of (thankfully blank) notebook paper like a chubby white king in a mass of paper snow.

"Oh hell no. You did not just destroy one of Fuu's spare notebooks."

Mokona looked back at her, expression the picture of innocence even with all the paper around him.

"Why didn't you come with a cage," Umi muttered. She braved the rabbit, picking him up and pulling him off toward the bathroom where they'd set up his rabbit toilet equivalent—he wasn't ripping the paper and sawdust mess of that apart at least—and closed the door so he could stay out of trouble as she cleaned up the mess. Umi would have left him in the bathroom entirely except she knew Hikaru would give her the biggest kicked puppy expression if she did.

Reluctantly, she let the bunny out of the bathroom. Mokona hopped after her and flopped on her feet.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Umi muttered to herself. The rabbit twitched an ear her direction and stretched his whole body out to cover as much space as possible. Umi sighed. At least he was warm and soft. And not the sort of rabbit that liked to bite or scratch. She'd seen his claws under the fluffy fur and how long his teeth were when he munched on some of the vegetables Hikaru cut up for him.

"I still don't like you," Umi said, surrendering to having her feet claimed as bunny territory for the time being. "This doesn't mean anything."

Mokona stayed a furry white deadweight over her toes.

o*o

"This is what ya were worried about?" Tarta asked, holding up Mokona. He let himself be handled like a ragdoll, the only sign of life his ever twitching nose. "This? This ain't a hell rabbit, it's a cloud. A fat, fluffy, cuddly cloud."

"Shut up," Umi said. "You haven't seen his eyes glowing at you in the dark when you go to pee in the middle of the night."

"Aww, I'm sure he's more scare'd've ya than yer of him." She cuddled Mokona. The bunny was stealing her girlfriend and looking smug about it. What the hell. "Don't worry cutie, she's just weird," Tarta said to the ball of fur in her arms.

Umi glared at the rabbit. "I'm weird? It's the snowball that seems to love to stalk me. How is that even normal rabbit behavior?"

"Maybe he just likes ya?"

"Why?!"

Tarta shrugged, playing with Mokona's silky ears. "Dunno. Maybe he's just kinda dumb."

"Great. A stupid demon rabbit. Wonderful."

Tarta laughed at her. Umi left her to play with the hell rabbit. It meant that it would let Umi be for long enough to do things in her own apartment in peace.

o*o

"I give up."

Hikaru and Fuu were giggling as Mokona hopped between all of them before consistently coming to sit on Umi's feet. Besides being kind of creepy with the staring and following her, the rabbit hadn't actually done anything in the time it was there. Just destroy anything paper they forgot to keep out of reach, and that wasn't really demonic exactly.

Umi frowned down at her foot warmer and nudged Mokona's pudgy body. "I don't get you at all. Do you just like my feet? Because they're pretty bony. They're probably not even comfortable you weirdo creature."

Mokona's ears twitched, but he didn't move. Hikaru snapped a picture on her phone. Umi tried to melt into the sofa.

"I guess I just have to accept this. It's not cute at all. It's still weird, rabbit, you're weird and probably really dumb." Umi ignored Hikaru and Fuu laughing at her. "Yup. Really dumb. But okay. I guess I just have to accept that you have the worst self-preservation instincts of any prey animal ever."

"Aww, c'mon, Umi-chan," Hikaru said, settling on Umi's other side. "If you really minded you'd just have spent the whole week with Tarta."

"She's have kicked me out," Umi said, knowing it wasn't true. Tarta would have laughed at her the whole week and for weeks after, but she'd have let Umi stay. Mokona spread his whole body over her feet to achieve maximum furry coverage. So. Weird.

"Uh huh." Fuu sat on Umi's other side, sandwiching her onto the couch. Trapped on all sides. Yup, Umi was just going to melt here and never move again. Fuu had the tiny, smug tilt to her smile that she got when she felt she knew something before someone else and it was something really funny. "I am sure your surrender to Sir Mokona is completely unavoidable."

"It's a war of attrition. I surrender now, and I can maybe survive the rest of the pet sit."

"You like him," Hikaru insisted.

"Never."

Still, Umi didn't protest when Hikaru plopped Mokona into her lap. Mokona stretched out across all three of them. He was stupid soft was all. It felt nice. For a hell rabbit.

o*O*o

 _AN: That's it. That's the end. I hope that you guys enjoyed it as much as I enjoyed writing it ^_^ Thanks for all of you out there that left reviews! They really made my day._

 _For anyone who is interested, more random headcanon stream of thought sort of thing:_

So, what's the backstory/life of everyone?

 **Hikaru, Umi and Fuu** pretty much have the lives they'd have had if they never went to Cephiro (thus if Hikaru's a little too happy-happy, she never had the trauma of killing someone in this universe).

 **Ferio** 's mostly been covered in story—rich family, dissonance in values, controlling family, sister suiciding, etc. But he pretty much took a bit of time off from school after his sister died, tried to get his head together, and thus ended up with Lafarga and having Caldina big-sis adopt him. He started working at Escudo, renting from Lafarga, and put his life back in order to continue school. He'd just returned back to school the semester Fuu met him.

 **Lafarga** 's a ¼ Japanese, son of an American soldier and has a ½ Japanese mother, thus why he doesn't look very Japanese at all despite being a citizen. He almost ended up a police officer, but in the end that career wasn't working for him so he decided to make his hobbies of baking and enjoying fine coffees into a profession. He met Caldina back when he was trying the police career and is hoping to propose soon since they've been dating for years.

 **Caldina** 's from the same country as Tarta and Tatra (which in this is going to just be some teeny fictional country somewhere in the world) and spent years traveling around the world before she ended up in Japan, met Lafarga, and decided she might want to stick around this time. Unlike Lafarga (who's kind of a romantic but shy about it), she doesn't care about marriage one way or another, but she'd accept if he asked as she's committed and knows it's important to him.

The old man advisor from Fahren ( **Qiang Ang** ) is a history professor at the university. Lady **Asuka** is from a well to do family and is a bit of a prodigy. She's still not quite at university levels yet though. She's friends with **Sang Yung** whose family owns the shop next to Alcyone.

Meanwhile, you have **Tarta** and **Tatra** who are princesses (Umi flips her shit when Tarta eventually admits this) from a teeny tiny country. Tatra went to a prestigious university in America and is taking care of all the things she needs to know as the next to inherit the royal line. Which left Tarta free to choose where she wanted to go and with more leeway in her studies. Since Tarta isn't the one inheriting, no one gives a crap who she dates (though for all I know there's legal standing in her country where she and her sister could marry whomever and however many people of any gender, so long as an heir is produced at some point), so yay for Umi there. She's taking business classes and politics because even though she's not obligated to know how to rule a country as second child, she wants to do her best for her country and support her sister. The fact that Umi's a wealthy heiress herself is a lucky happenstance in Tarta's book and more likely that she'd be approved of. Tatra is amused at her sister's romantic life and liked Umi when they met.

 **Ascot** on the other hand is an orphan and a prodigy. He has a foster family that he likes well enough, but he connects more with the menagerie of pets he's accumulated than people most of the time. He got big-sis adopted by Caldina via Ferio, since Ascot occasionally hung out with the crowd of people Ferio does sword fighting with. Ferio befriended him, Ascot started stopping by Escudo, the rest sort of just happened inevitably as it does when Caldina decides to care about someone. (She's going to adopt Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu in a heartbeat. Especially Hikaru "You have all brothers, well now ya have a sister too! Lantis shoulda brought ya by sooner.") He's not sure what he wants to do yet, but it's probably going to be something with animals. He's taking business and economics classes even though he doesn't need them because Umi mentioned she was taking him and he signed up for an excuse to keep running into her after their first class together. Life is tough the first time you fall in love. He's currently taking more classes than is advisable because of it though. His life is stress.

(As mentioned in an earlier chapter) **Primera** 's a 3 year old because, well, she kind of acted like it in the anime and manga. _ She annoyed me a bit so she can be the small child her maturity level reflects. **Mira** is also someone in the campus daycare. She likes Lantis, but when Hikaru starts going to the daycare frequently, she latches onto her. All is sunshine and rainbows and kittens with those two.

 **Zazu, Geo** , and **Eagle** were all good friends back in Autozam, though back then they weren't all rooming together until later. Zazu has a major in robotics and engineering, and is going for a third degree in programming, which he's decided to use in game making, which led to a fourth major in graphic design (he's kind of insane and lives off caffeine and spends every moment not working on school, personal projects, or sleeping watching anime or playing some form of video game. Often dating sims or RPGs with mecha.) Zazu intends to one day combine all his passions and create a working gundam because he is a giant nerd. Geo's been the mom friend from day one with the two of them. He hadn't intended to go on to get a masters, but in the end he tagged along and continued his studies because Eagle and Zazu would probably stop functioning if he left them alone at this point, and he supposes getting another degree isn't going to hurt his résumé any.

 **Presea** is an art professor who specializes in metalwork. She does knife smithing as a hobby, but her art tends to be intricate metal sculptures and the like. She's head over heels for Clef and has been for years. About the only one who hasn't noticed is Clef. Everyone else caught on the second year she made him something that had to have taken weeks of work if not months two years in a row for his birthday. Which she gives him something for every year without fail and talks about how they're coworkers and all, "hahaha ^_^!" even though they aren't even in the same department and don't really have much reason to interact. She got Mokona when her twin decided to move and find her own way a few years back and alternately loves and hates him because he's so cute? But he tends to get into all her things and destroy them? She's taken to bringing him wherever she goes so she can keep an eye on him. Plus students seem to love him and he's always up for more attention.

 **Clef** has a habit of taking strays, and also does tutoring sometimes on the side. He tutored Emeraude, and all but raised Zagato and Lantis in their teen years. Alcyone was also one of his strays, but they had a falling out over a disagreement in her business practices. Clef is a bit oblivious to how many people have crushes on him because it's not the first, second, or even third thing on his mind. He's pretty comfortable with the life he has and his cat (think the griffin). He's always glad to help students find their way though, so he'd probably take Umi on as her adviser.

 **Alcyone** had a hard life and clawed her way to success. She prefers to project an air of wealth and success to constantly remind herself that she's overcome her past. She fell hard for Zagato back when she was around Clef and outright hated Emeraude because she could tell he was falling for Emeraude instead of her. When Emeraude and Zagato died, she didn't have much of an outlet for the emotions until she met Ferio and it was a kind of instant mutual hatred, her more because he was Emeraude's brother, him because he thought she was tacky and overcharging for crap cakes. They maintain a sort of rivalry via Escudo and The Forrest, but if she ever goes in while Lantis is working, she's actually the picture of politeness to him. Lantis never quite knows how to feel about her because on one hand, they saw each other a lot growing up and were sort of friends. On the other hand, he knows she loved his brother, hated Emeraude, got into a fight with Clef, and is projecting Zagato on him a bit more than he is comfortable with.

There's no Nova and Debonair in this, but it would be pretty fun if Hikaru eventually adopts a cat and names it Nova. Nova hates everyone. Except Hikaru and Lantis. And even then she'll attack your hands for no reason. Hikaru forgives her every time.


End file.
